Peace Keeper Takeru Takaishi
by Dragontiger96
Summary: Takeru Takaishi is a genetically engineered soldier of Lunar Corp Industries. He knows nothing of love, hate or regret. A child of war his past is covered by the blood of others, and yet his heart was stolen by the child of a hidden light. Takari
1. Journey into the Darkness

Disclamer- I don't own Digimon. I own the plot, and resemblance to any other plot is pure coincidence.

Peace Keeper Takeru Takaishi  
Ch. 1 _Journey to the Darkness_

First class Sergeant Takeru Takaishi walked down to the Arikada District of Tokyo, Japan searching for any rebel camps in the area. He was with his commanding officer, Lieutenant Major Yamato Ishida, and fellow Peace Keepers Private Omura Ayanami, and Private Risa Ebisawa.

Major Ishida was not a big man, but tall and gangly with flat blond hair and blue eyes. Ayanami was the rookie; he had just been assigned to the team a week before. With black hair constantly pillowing in front of his brown eyes, he stumbled through everything he did. All the other team members hoped that it was just jitters from being out on the field for the first time for every action in battle could mean the difference between life and death. Finally there was Ebisawa, the only female. Her purple hair and blazing green eyes instilled fear to all those who didn't know her.

Each wore the standard uniforms assigned to them by the Lunar Corporation: a pair of black pants with six visible pockets and two hidden ones, black urban combat jacket, a Kevlar vest with eight pockets, a pair of clear goggles, ear comms, a basic .45 Furor semiautomatic pistol, two combat knives, one on their side and one in the standard issue boots and a MtK-68 assault rifle.

All of them took on the assignment with much reluctance, but they were the only team with in the area, for the rest had been abandoned it long ago. They walked down what used to be the main street. Everything was old crumpled and dirty; wild animals ruled the streets, and not a human soul could be spotted.

Each of the team members would face one of the four available directions. Ishida stared north and pointed his standard issue MtK-68 in front. He had bent his knees and glided across the street like the soldier he was trained to be. The others, facing the other three directions, East, South and West, were gliding in a similar way. Each of them had their backs glued together and thus moved as one group down to the old hospital that stood next to a long forgotten café.

They finally approached the door without any misfortune. Without a word they split into two's on each side of the door. Three…two…one, they counted in silence then Ishida rammed in the door and everyone quickly shuffled in with their weapons in the air. Searching the entrance for enemy hostiles, they slid across the room with surprising speed. Ishida stepped forward as a precautionary against attack. Ebisawa followed soon after, facing the right straight at the old office door. Takaishi and Ayanami both moved in similar fashions keeping their backs facing each other. There was no opening for a surprise attack.

The room reeked of ancient rot and feces. It was covered in webs and ancient furniture that was once white. Some of the furniture was strewn about the floor with bullet holes dots like chocolate sprinkles on an over aged cake. Papers were scattered all over the floor, it was probably abandoned during the Gerim Riots. Many had insignia of old terrorist groups that had long been crushed by the Lunar Empire.

They traveled as an amoeba into the office. There was nothing there. Papers were strewn about the floor; all furniture was tipped over, and an old computer with a broken screen and no keyboard was thrown into a small corner.

"Clear" confirmed Ebisawa.

Once again the amoeba walked outside. They then began to walk down the hall further into the wrecked building. Ishida was naturally first to step forward into the hallway. The others followed closely behind watching for any signs of life, or preferably, none. The hall was no better than the open entrance room, except for the vast amounts of spider webs that have obviously been disturbed very recently. It was then that the four soldiers came up to a three way fork in their path.

Although unwilling, Ishida ordered his group to separate. Flicking his hands, he motioned Takaishi to the left, Ebisawa to the right, and Ayanami to stay as backup. Ishida went straight forward into the dark abyss of the hallway. Takaishi and Ebisawa both went their separate ways and Ayanami stayed, feeling a little indignant; however, his orders were orders and they were obeyed.

Takaishi's trip was anything but pleasurable. He walked through what seemed to be thousands of spider webs and endured the smell of rotting rat flesh that seemed to permeate even through his armor. Holding his weapon up with the utmost caution, he slowly moved up to each room and rushed in to surprise any possible residence within the compartment.

"Clear" he confirmed with his earpiece after he scanned a room. CRASH went something to the South East of the room. Whipping his gun up, Takaishi pointed the flashlight at the end of his gun at a small child hiding in the corner. Apparently the small thing had managed to blend with some ragged curtains and an old hospital bed. It seemed deathly pale and skinny. It was as if the child had no sustenance for many days. It was debatable on whether or not this child was alive. However, the sudden jerky movements in attempt to run did confirm the living status of the adolescent.

Takaishi grabbed the kid by the shirt.

"Halt," he shouted.

It merely stared at him with wide eyes of pure fear. The child was a young boy no more than seven years of age.

He raised his left hand up to his ear and pressed down slightly until a small beep was heard, "Sir, I found a child, most likely an orphan," He stated "Request permission to return him to Ayanami's post."

"Yes Takaishi, then after that return to clearing the building. Be wary, there is a possibility that the child is neither an orphan nor alone," the rattled static returned.

The child began screaming as Takaishi made moves to lift it into the air. Lowering his rifle and he gagged the loud dreadful noise with some old rags from the ground, Takaishi then scooped the fifty pound weight into his arms and proceeded to move toward the direction in which he came. The small thing in his arms realized the knot on the gag was too hard to undo, had began to attack the armor on Takaishi's shoulder. Ignoring the wriggling mass on his shoulder, he merely walked further down the hallway.

After twenty yards, he noticed the height of the spider webs disposition. A click sounded behind him. Takaishi then flipped around and shot a door. Soon a body fell out of it and three people with automatic rifles jumped out to attack him. Utilizing all the training of Lunar Corp, Takaishi ran off with inhuman speed before his attackers could raise their weapons.

"Sir, I am under attack by three unknown hostiles, most likely part of the rebel group. They are armed with American M-16's. Heading towards Ayanami's location now." His voice was calm; it was not unusual for him to be in danger.

The child, who seemed to get free of the temporary gag, was now wailing in his arms thanks to the sound of the gunfire. The rebels seemed to have no fear of harming it, and the bullets whizzed by like flies. They swarmed towards the young soldier attempting to catch up to his superior speed. Even with the child in his arms weighting him down, Takaishi still had the genetic superiority in speed and ran faster than the three.

Takaishi freed his right arm and lifted his rifle and returned some shots. The hall seemed to last an eternity during this time of action, but he was closing in on Ayanami's position.

"Ayanami, I am approaching you position, be prepared for attack." He ordered through his comm.

"Acknowledged," came the conditioned reply.

"Takaishi, you will lead them to where Ayanami was posted and make sure they enter the area. Then we will surround them on all sides and take them out." ordered Ishida.

So Takaishi ran through the small room where the path split and flipped around just as he passed it. His pursuers ran right into it like a flock of sheep. Ebisawa, who had been standing in the direction of where they came, moved into the hall behind the rebels, blocking off any escape path. Each one of them was in a separate hall facing toward the center.

Takaishi's attackers soon realized what happened, and one twisted toward Ayanami's direction. Before he pulled the trigger, the team had already fired. Each one of the rebels fell to the ground with a thump. One, a female, reached toward the child in Takaishi's arms as if making some sort of last request before dieing. The boy, who had watched the entire thing, began wailing even louder and screamed for his mother. The team watched with apathy.

Suddenly, rifle fire rang through the room. Ebisawa fell to the ground, landing on the puddle of rebel blood. The rest had lifted their rifles and fired toward the origin of the bullets. This time, there was far more than three; this was definitely a rebel camp ground. Ishida motioned for retreat to the entrance of the building. So they ran as fast as they were able to and zoomed toward the exit.

Takaishi was last, for the child had slowed him down a great deal. He was also somewhat tired from the previous run. He had not gotten far when a sharp pain went up his left leg, and he slammed into an old chair. The child flew threw the air; where it landed, Takaishi did not know.

Using the wall, he stood up and faced his attackers, who were now close enough for him to see the color of their eyes. Lifting his rifle, he lunged at one of them and slammed the butt of it into its face. Another came and shot his other leg. Searing pain went through Takaishi's body, and yet he ignored it and flipped around to shoot back. Before he could, someone had managed to butt him in the head, successfully sending him into a black oblivion.

He awoke to the feeling of pain in his legs, shoulders and head. His hands were tied above him; he was hanging off a hook barely touching the ground with the tips of his toes. A series of thoughts ran through his head. Perhaps this was the so called after-life that so many believed in, or maybe Lunar Corp had managed to get him back and decided to debrief him the hard way, because he had failed his mission. None-the-less he was somewhere he had not been before.

The room reeked of fecal matter and other rotting wastes. It was white all around him, and there was only one entrance and no window. If this was hell then the many believers would be destined to be disappointed for the lack of fire and demons.

Takaishi's shoulders screamed in pain as the gravity bore down on them in this awkward position. It reminded him of his early years, among the many exercises, there was the dreaded tolerance drill; as implied by the name, and the drill tested a subject's pain tolerance and attempted to increase its level.

The door opened. A man with black, spiked hair, dark eyes and a diagonal scar on his cheek advanced. Behind him were three others, two men and a young woman. The girl was about medium height and had short brown hair. She wore a torn green jacket over a small pink tank top. She was not incredibly beautiful, but she could be considered "cute." One man carried a small laptop with him; it was dark with age and scratched with overuse. His red hair was spiked, like the first man, except it was slightly shorter; he seemed younger than the first as well. The last was a man with unusually blue hair, he brought in a black bag with what seemed to be a Red Cross patch on it. He lugged it up next to Takaishi and dropped it with a thud next to the young blonde's foot.

"So here are my demons," Takaishi thought to himself. He eyed the black bag, expecting sharp instruments to be extracted from it.

The black haired one then begun to speak, "So, what's your rank and serial number soldier?"

"Who cares, I say we should kill it!" the woman glared at Takaishi with an unparallel amount of hatred.

Laptop man turned to the women and calmly stated, "We've been over this Hikari, and he could have beneficial information, not to mention it would be murder, after all he is human." Takaishi was shocked, though it remained hidden from his captors. He had never been classified as an equal to a person.

"Yeah right, Koushiro, this is a creature that would kill another with out a second thought, it doesn't know regret, or pain. **That is not human**!" Hikari screamed back, pointing in Takaishi's direction.

As if on cue, the unusual blue hair man stepped in, "Hikari stop it, I have to treat my patient, and we have instructions interrogate him, if you can't handle it then leave." The man took off an old bandage from Takaishi's leg. Takaishi merely stared down, noticing for the first time that his leg wounds were covered in gauze.

"Fine then Jyou, if this **thing** escapes and runs rampant and kills everyone, I am not responsible. And you," she turned to the scarred man, "don't you ever forget Taichi, that you are a Kamiya." With that, she stormed out, disappearing when the door slammed.

Fire brewed in Taichi's eyes. He coldly turned his body to face Takaishi and glared at him. "Rank and Serial Number" he demanded once more. Receiving no immediate answer, Taichi became aggravated and grabbed the younger man by the collar. Takaishi winced in pain by the sudden jolt in the shoulders and legs.

Taichi ignored the man's twinge and looked fiercely at Takaishi's eyes. "Answer me, or you'll regret it," he threatened in a low, hoarse voice. Again, no sound came from the hanging man's lips. So Taichi positioned himself to punch Takaishi.

Jyou then stepped up and stood in front of his patient. "Sorry Taichi, he's still my patient, and I will treat him. But I can't do that if you threaten to pulverize him, so I must ask you to leave." Taichi growled a little at him, then turned his head to go.

Koushiro then approached Takaishi, "Hmm, appears like you made great friends with the Kamiya's," he looked at the door where Taichi left, "You must understand, Peace Keepers like you were the ones that killed Taichi and Hikari's parents. I don't really like you too much either, many of my friends died at the hands of Lunar Corp's Hell Spawns." He looked at Takaishi, then at Jyou who was bandaging the leg below. It was as if he expected a reaction from the depressing story. "So, you feel like talking now?"

Takaishi merely stared at him with empty eyes. The boy had no clue what to say or what they wanted; to Koushiro, however, Takaishi was being difficult.

"Alright, have it your way." He left through the door everyone else used.

As if announcing his own presence once more, Jyou shouted, "Done" with an interesting hint of glee. He turned to Takaishi and attempted to interrogate him a different way. "It would be nice to know your name; would you be kind enough to tell me?"

"First class Sergeant number 33914023, Battalion number 223 team 59." He uttered.

Surprised at his unexpected success Jyou managed to smile a little. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it?" he grinned at Takaishi and left the room, but not before adding in a little comment, "I think you'll be fine, your leg is healing quickly thanks to your genetic enhancements."

Takaishi was confused with himself. He could not conceive why he had said so much about who he was. It was frightening; there seemed to be no cause. However, he ignored the pending fear and slept; he needed to reserve his strength.

When he woke up, there was the female called Hikari standing before him. Takaishi was no fool, this woman hated him and nothing was going to stop her. She did not appear to be as agreeable as the others. For a moment, they stared into each other's eyes. Her brown eyes seemed to turn to a dark burning red as she lifted a Berretta .45 and placed it between his eyes.

Her hand began shaking uncontrollably. Her mind screamed for control, but the rest of her would not respond. She had killed before, but only in self defense. Cold blooded murder was new to her, and the longer she stared into Takaishi's eyes, the more she could bring herself to kill him.

Takaishi was taken aback at his executioner's loss of control. These things did not happen everyday. If their roles had been switched, he would have pulled the trigger without a second thought.

Her hand squeezed at the handle, and slowly pulled back the trigger.

"Hikari!" Taichi lunged into the room. "What are you doing Hikari?" Taichi yelled, "You know we're supposed to keep him alive!"

She whipped around angrily, dropping her gun to her side. "I said that I would take care of it if you didn't," she firmly stated. She glared at the floor, and her fist tightened around the gun.

"All right then, you can take care of _him_," said Taichi.

"What!" Hikari flipped her head up, and stared into the man's eyes. Did her brother finally understand?

"Yes, that's right, you get to feed him and change his bandages, and so forth," Taichi smirked, "and if I find out that you killed him, then I'll have no choice but to arrest you."

"What?" she screamed at him, "No way, not a chance in hell. I'd rather die." She then punched him in the nose.

"Oww, shit Kari." Taichi held his now bloody nose in his hands, bending over to avoid having blood on his clothes. "Well, then my condolences for your premature death, cuz your doing it." He laughed. He was covered in blood, but the irony was too much. Suddenly he snapped into a stoic form. This was not a time to mock his sister, but to educate her.

Hikari slightly growled at her brother. However, she accepted the task, Taichi was her brother after all. In all of his pig headedness, he did have an unusual amount of intelligence under that dense helmet he had for hair. She stared at the ground and conceded her defeat.

Taichi took this as his cue to talk, "Alright then, moving on, we have to get him down. We can't have a prisoner who is so used to pain that torture won't get anything out of him." He motioned Koushiro and another dark haired young man to move forward and let Takaishi down. The man appeared to be about the same age as Hikari. He actually appeared to be a younger version of Taichi. They appeared to be siblings.

Takaishi groaned that young man was not very gentle. In fact, he was down right ruthless. "Daisuke Motimoya, you could be a little more careful, dropping the man's wounded legs on the ground is border line torture," Koushiro chastised the younger man. Daisuke merely grunted a slight response. He did not appear to like Lunar Corp Peace Keepers either.

They chained him to the wall, although his limbs were free to move, somewhat. Leaving him there, the bleeding Taichi and his subordinates left Takaishi in the dark room with no light for comfort. Takaishi merely stared into the darkness. It seemed like years passed since his capture by the enemy. The pain in his legs merely made it seem longer. Sitting in the darkness gave him time to contemplate his life of seventeen years. It was nothing much; a rifle, a pair of slacks, his commander/brother, and the eyes of a mother begging for the life of her child.

That image was stuck in his head for a long time; she was barely twenty and living off the rubble of what used to be Okinawa with her two year old son. His team had orders to exterminate whatever was residing in the place; it was an initiation test for loyalty to the company. He had located the women hiding between some large piles of rubble and underneath a box. When he flipped the box up, the woman screamed, "Run!" A small bundle of clothes came storming out from underneath the box. When Takaishi aimed his gun at it, the women slammed herself at him. Naturally she did not stand a chance against his abilities, but she was able to deter his weapon from hitting the target.

When he regained control, she was on her knees begging him to spare her son. The tears poured freely from her brown eyes. For a moment, he hesitated to shoot the child, who was about twenty feet away and running as fast as his little legs could move. The women continued to plead, but Takaishi had his orders, and he shot the little bundle and watched it crash onto the ground covered in red. The woman stared at the direction Takaishi shot and ran straight at her son screaming out his name. By the time she reached finally accepted, the child was dead, she screamed out in agony. She stared at Takaishi, not with eyes of hate, but with eyes of pity and sadness. That look was frozen in his memories forever. Finally, he raised his rifle and shot her in between the eyes, so she could die without much pain.

After that day, they were initiated to being a permanent Peace Keepers for Lunar Corp. During the naming ceremony, he made one request. It was to have the name Takeru Takaishi, the name of the very child he murdered.

An eternity later, the door of his cell opened once more and the lights were turned on. It was Hikari with what appeared to be a tray of food. It made Takaishi realize just how hungry he was. She walked up to him and spit in the tray. Then she shoved it at him saying, "Eat it, cuz that's all you're getting." Takaishi took the tray out of her hands and proceeded to eat. The fact that someone spit it in it did not affect him at all.

His indifference annoyed her. "It's not fair, can nothing faze this man," she thought to herself. Then she bent down to check on his bandages. It had been about four hours since they were put on and they were beginning to have an odor. She put her hand on the wounded section where the gauze began. Takaishi flinched with pain. Hikari noticed and as much as she wished to cause more pain, she held back. She didn't know why she couldn't bring herself to torture him; perhaps it was those blue eyes that seemed so ready to die a few hours before.

She carefully unwrapped the bandage around his left leg. They did not talk as she slowly removed and replaced the bandage. Takaishi merely observed her working although it did not stop his eating. Her fingers moved gracefully and gently around his wound.. It was just then he noticed just how incredibly amazing she looked, "perhaps the correct word is beautiful," he thought. But her eyes diverted his attention. They glazed over with a dull brown as she worked; this was not her first time bandaging gun wounds. But it was more than just her being in a routine; it was as if someone had stolen the light out of her eyes. For a moment he was lost in them and could see nothing but those brown pools of misery.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded.

A strange feeling came over Takaishi; blood rushed up to his cheeks. This was the first time in his life that he has ever felt like that, and he could not comprehend it. It was an interesting new sensation, but it was not pleasant.

"N..n..nothing," he managed to utter.

Hikari returned her attention to her work. Whatever he was doing, it was nothing of concern to her. Then she moved to re-bandage his right leg. Like before, she noticed his wounds had healed at an amazing rate. She felt slightly jealous for his genetic advantages. Then Taichi walked in with his usual followers plus one; they were prepared to question Takaishi further.

Takaishi looked up at the goggled man. "Well, well, looks like your wounds are healing nicely which means that we can continue questioning you," Taichi nonchalantly stated, "Sis, when are you going to be done with him?"

"Just start," she replied coldly.

A little unnerved by her tone of voice, Taichi approached Takaishi with caution. Daisuke, Koushiro, Jyou and another woman walked up behind him. "Sora!" Kari greeted jumping up and hugging her in the middle of her work, "Your back from Okinawa." Takaishi frowned; the place brought back unpleasant memories. Hikari returned to her work, growling a little when she looked at Takaishi.

"Yes," Sora replied. She had light auburn hair with tanned skin and a long jagged scar ran down her left arm. She wore a yellow tank top and a light blue cap, her blue jeans were torn and covered in white patches. Taichi stepped aside while she approached Takaishi and stared down at him. "So, you are one of Lunar Corp's butchers. What's your rank and serial number?"

For a moment, Takaishi merely stared and blinked. "First class Sergeant number 33914023, Battalion number 223 team 59," he rehearsed.

"What were you doing at the old hospital?" She questioned further. He said nothing. "Tell me what you were doing at the old hospital," she patiently ordered. Takaishi shifted his gaze to Hikari's hands that were bandaging his leg. Sora grew slightly frustrated; "Answer me soldier," she demanded. He made no response once more. Now Sora's eye brows furrowed, "Answer me or we'll be forced to hurt you." It was not that he did not want to tell, but his team would be executed if he did tell and _they_ found out.

Daisuke seized his opportunity, grabbed Takaishi and slammed him up against the wall. "Answer the lady you bastard." Takaishi stared straight at Daisuke's eyes for a moment then looked at Taichi, then chose a spot on the wall. Daisuke grabbed at Takaishi's not entirely bandaged, wounded leg. Takaishi yelped in pain, and grimaced at the young man in front of him. It did not matter to Takaishi; he did not plan to live past the age of twenty-five anyway.

Daisuke grew frustrated at the lack of answers; he was about to continue with his "interrogation" technique except Taichi forced him to stop. "Sorry kid, but that will get you no where."

"This boy knows too much of pain to be swayed by it," Koushiro added. The older ones all nodded their head in agreement. Daisuke was slightly disappointed, but nonetheless dropped Takaishi onto the ground. He turned around to his comrades, "Alright, then what are we supposed to do with him? There is no point in keeping him if he won't talk."

"Your too impatient Daisuke," said Jyou, "he will come around soon enough, give him a little time." Hikari finished up bandaging, stood up and left. Everyone else stood there for a little staring at Takaishi as if they were expecting him to say something. They soon seemed to give up and left him in the dark once more.

The next day Hikari returned with fresh bandages and some gruel. She gave him his food and began changing the bandages on his legs. Once again, they endured each other in silence. Before she finished, the others had walked in and patiently waited their turn for the prisoner. They questioned him for two hours, using every technique they could think of without permanently damaging him further. Yet Takaishi said nothing. At the end, they finally gave up.

The next day happened exactly the same way. Hikari would come in with food and bandages. Halfway through bandaging his legs, Taichi, Daisuke and Koushiro entered to question him for a couple of hours and he, of course, never said anything besides his rank and serial number. Soon this became an everyday pattern, until he was in there for about a month.

Hikari came in as usual and handed him a tray of food and began bandaging his wounds. Takaishi had a question that had been burning away at his soul and could no longer with hold it in his heart. "Why…?" he asked her, his voice was soft and hoarse for he had not spoken in some time. She flipped her eyes up from her work, completely surprised at the noise coming from the usually catatonic man.

He stared at her blankly, then opened his mouth, "Why do you even bother?"

Please R&R


	2. Welcome to the Base

Peace Keeper Takeru Takaishi  
Ch. 2 _Welcome to the Base_

She returned his confused gaze. "I...uh…" she stuttered, "I'm a nurse, changing bandages is my job." She was surprised, not with him, but herself. The fact that she even responded to the question was just not something she would do. The hate she felt had not ebbed at all during his month stay; in fact, within that time, she hated this creature more. However, her hands continued to work, and her mind ordered her to disregard any future uttering of the boy.

She tried her best to concentrate on checking his currant wounds. From what she could see they were healing very quickly. The wounds were not much more than scars with small scabs in certain areas. They actually did not require bandages anymore, but she continued to work anyway. He would have a difficult time trying to walk again, but the bullets holes were gone. After trying to pick out every unusual fact about the blonde's wounds, she heard him mutter again. This time she looked up and stared into his eyes. For a moment, she was lost in the blue void; then her brother arrived.

He strolled in with very little tact, as usual, and let the door slam close with a large clink sound successfully breaking Hikari out of her trance. Today he started out with the usual rank and serial number demand, and got the usual reply. As always, he moved on to Lunar Corp, "Why has Lunar Corp been amassing troops near the Hata District?" not expecting an answer he asked, "What do you know of the Bio Scientists that design the Peace Keeper Troops?" He continued on this barrage of questions for about one hour as if it were a custom.

When Hikari had finished switching the bandages, she stood up and calmly announced that the man would be ready to begin walking again by the next day. Then she left them there in their competition of 'who could last the longest'.

Outside that little cell was a completely different world; unlike the barren little prison, the place was crowded with bustling people and children. They walked from one place to another, while others sat in makeshift tents cleaning their weapons or clothes. Three children ran past Hikari in a game of tag, and bumped into a gruff man wearing a ragged cloak and carrying an old automatic rifle. A pregnant woman strolled by with a bag of food that was meant to feed her family for the next week. An old woman in the corner was beating an old patched rug while singing to herself; her granddaughter stood on a ladder, putting up decorations for the upcoming celebration. The underground structure was lit up with a series of mirrors that reflected the sunlight from the roof. Here, in this camp, were the victims of Lunar Corps so called improvements.

Hikari walked through the people she called her family toward the hospital tent. There, she saw the different people that lay on the cots waiting for treatment by the three other nurses. Some of them had a cold, others were bleeding from various wounds, and those without hope were dying with gangrene. She picked up a light green paper that sparkled in the light and handed it to one of the oldest patients.

"Peaceful Hisaishi Day" she said. He smiled back and opened his mouth as if to speak. She accepted it as a thank you. The old man held the paper close to his chest and lay down on his cot. She smiled and moved on to a small child that was suffering from a mild case of chicken pox. She squatted down and patted the four year old on the head. His family had sent him to the medical tent, because they did not know why his skin began developing small red bumps. However, the boy would soon be returning home and Hikari wanted to greet him before his family picked him up. "Alright, Kentaro, you're going to go home soon." She stated.

He nodded his head triumphantly; he felt proud of defeating the evil Virus man. "Haffy Hisashi Day" He shouted with a large goofy grin.

"Same to you," Hikari tapped the boy on the nose. He immediately rubbed his nose out of playfulness.

"Whatcha gonna do tomarrow?" he questioned, sticking his hands behind his back.

"Well, I don't know," she answered, "what do you think I should do?" She smiled at him. She really loved children.

"Well I think she needs to help me with patients." Came a behind her. A blue haired man in a yellowing lab coat, jeans and a patchy light blue sweat shirt walked up to her. Hikari turned around and smiled at him. He looked at her, "Done with our guest already?" he asked.

"Yes," she scowled a little. Young Kentaro spotted his parents and ran to them while waving goodbye to the nurse and doctor. Both turned and waved back, knowing they would see him in the next day's festivities.

"Well, back to work then." Jyou smiled, turned to another patient that was suffering from burn wounds, and motioned her to help. She followed his silent instructions and did her work.

The day moved quickly in her mind, and before she knew it, dinner time had already come. Most people sat in the common cafeteria and took the rationed food from the servers in a line. Like usual the food was a paste type gruel with some salt and some leaves from a local tree. Everyone comforted themselves with the thought of a dinner with meat for the next day.

Hikari got her food and seated herself next to her brother, who had just finished conversing with a messenger. She looked at Koushiro across the table, "How was the mission?" she asked.

"Prodigious, Daisuke got a scratch on the knee, but other than that we were triumphant." He answered happily; he had finally gotten a new processor for his laptop. Daisuke growled at the mention of his wound; he was angry with Koushiro for insisting on risking their lives for a computer processor.

Hikari turned to Daisuke full of concern, "Are you alright? If you come to the medical tent tomorrow, I'll bandage it for you." She stated. Daisuke softened his face at the offer of his childhood friend and shook his head.

"Tomorrow is Hisaishi Day, you need a break. Plus I can bandage it for myself, I'm a big boy." He joked and smiled at her.

She returned the smile, but now her thoughts were with the creature behind the steel door. He said something beside his rank and serial number to her. On top of that, he asked her a question. Why was she still helping him? '_My brother has a sadistic sense of humor_' she thought, but in her heart, she knew that wasn't the reason. However, there was no way she'd admit to herself that she felt anything but hate for the creature. Angry shouting next to her brought Hikari back to reality.

"What do you mean let him out?" screamed Daisuke. He grabbed the young leader by the collar and glared into his eyes.

Hikari, who had missed the conversation, decided it was best to intervene before the younger man decided to bite off the other one's nose. She maneuvered herself between the two men. "Calm down Daisuke, Tai must have his reasons."

He spun around to her, "Have you lost your mind? This is the monster in the dungeon we're talking about!"

"Wha… wait a minute, you're planning to let him out?" now it was her turn to glare at her brother. She grabbed the collar from Daisuke and started to shake her brother violently as if trying to bring him back to reality. "Are you insane? What made you have this genius idea? You have got to be kidding!" she half-screamed at him.

"Bu..uht..Ka…ri…" he managed to blurt while having his head violently jerked back and forth. "The lea…de…rs…tho…ught…it..wou…ld…be..." Hikari stopped her attack, "a good idea." He finished while holding his head, trying to gain control of how the room was moving. "In fact, that messenger who was here when you arrived gave me the instructions."

She stared at him completely shocked. She knew Taichi always believed in the best of people no matter what circumstance, and she had a feeling he had something to do with this _provocative_ decision. However, it was one thing for her brother to have such a crazy idea, but the rebel leaders? It meant the apocalypse had come. She grumbled to herself while Taichi explained the details.

They knew he had been incapacitated for a long time; they knew he couldn't fight back even if he wanted to, but they also knew that this boy was no ordinary person and was responsible for countless murders. When Taichi opened up the blonde's room the next morning, no one could hide their concern for what they were about to do. Daisuke went in with Taichi and a wheel barrel that had an oval wheel. The irregular shape caused the wheel to go glunk glunk glunk as it rolled.

Hikari had been told to go enjoy the day, but she refused to go, because she did not trust the beast outside her supervision. She stared in the dark room, concerned for her brother and friend. After some clanking noises from the chains and a thud, the pair emerged from the room with a pale blonde boy that stared blankly at Hikari.

She shifted her gaze away from his eyes and stared intently at the barrel wheel, mentally ordering the round object to suddenly crack or fall off the rest of the simple machine. To her dismay, nothing happened, so they wheeled him into the center of the holiday festivities. The crowd became uneasy. Taichi had informed everyone of this event, but feelings of hate do not ebb away easily. Hikari eyed the man in the cart.

Timed passed slowly and by 1500 hours nothing happened. The blonde did nothing but stare at his surroundings. He ignored those who threatened him, and merely glanced at those who spat in his face. Hikari looked at his face; she was surprised. His eyes weren't searching for an exit, or an escape. They weren't studying defense system, or the soldiers, instead, the man stared at the children. He watched them play until the little ones felt uncomfortable with his staring and left. A few stuck out their tongues at him, imitating the disgust of their parents.

Another hour passed, the celebration was nearly over. Taichi and Daisuke had stuffed themselves with food while pushing the cart. Taichi even gave the blonde some of the festival food, saying that they couldn't let him starve. When the blonde man had finished the celery cake, they had arrived at the medical tent.

Jyou was there, he was treating a broken arm of a child who became a little too rambunctious. As soon as he finished, he approached the visitors with enthusiasm.

"Welcome to my tent!" he proclaimed. "I'm giving you the premium tour of the Five Oni Star Tent, also known as FOST," he said in a joking manner. The other two men stared at him as if he was insane. The blue haired man chuckled at the lame joke and began leading them through the tent.

"This is Rishou," he pointed at a middle aged man sleeping, "he is here because he's got Panthophobia. Oh and here is young Akiyoshi," he turned to his audience and whispered, "the poor boy has stomach flu."

Daisuke lost his patience. "C'mon Jyou, show us your real patients," he yelled, "That's why we're here."

Jyou looked at him disappointed, "Showing him nothing but pain will not do any good," he asserted, "the man has seen enough death."

The others glared at him "But, if that is what you really want." His expression became solemn. He turned around and lifted up a ragged towel. Underneath was a dead body with one leg missing. "This was Jouta," he pointed at a blood stained spot on the corpse's pants and stared at the blonde, "you are the one who did this. The wound became infected and we were forced to amputate his leg, so he died two days ago from another infection."

Everyone stared at the blonde for some sort of reaction, hoping for a sign that he felt some guilt. All he did was glance at the body, no expression on his face. Disappointed the group moved on and looked at more dead men. Each time Jyou showed the blonde a body, the group stared that the man for some reaction.

After an hour, Taichi finally thought it was time to stop; he had gotten sick of staring at the corpses of old friends, so they wheeled the blonde out of the tent. Suddenly the man grabbed one the side of a bed. Daisuke grabbed his handgun and pointed it at the blonde, Taichi immediately grabbed his neck, Hikari and Jyou jumped back from surprise. Then Hikari recognized the body from the bed, "So, you do remember him?" she said calmly. The men relaxed.

The blonde turned his gaze to her and nodded, "How?" he muttered.

She stared at the boy. "He landed on his head after you threw him and never woke up. We had to let him go, because we didn't have the resources to keep him alive." Tears began filling her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. "His grandmother was devastated; she stopped talking after he died yester…" she became silent. Little spots began appearing on the man's clothes. Everyone stared, confused for a moment.

'_Is he crying?_' she thought to herself. The blonde's head was down; his hair draped over his face.

Then a loud deep gong sounded in the air. The parade had ended; it was time for the big dinner, and Taichi decided that the blonde was to be returned. So that was it; they left him there, unchained, on the ground of his prison.

Everyone acted casually at the dinner. By now, the entire camp had heard about the tears thanks to Daisuke, who decided to yell, "Those were fake, it's just a scam to get us to trust him!" Many in the camp agreed the idea, but a few had other theories. Hikari was not satisfied with any of them. She stayed silent through dinner, quietly musing to herself on the reasons behind the young soldier's reaction, while Daisuke was surrounded by people who wanted to hear about the man's tears and the theory behind it.

"So he stared at this poor dead kid," he said as he took a large bite of some bread, "and he asked 'how?'" he spurt out drops of spit and bread when he imitated the blonde's voice.

"Kari here was kind enough to explain what happened. And the bastard started to cry. He didn't care about putting the boy in danger when he grabbed him and took him from his parents, but decided to cry when the kid died. I tell you it's just a scam to get us to trust him. Right Kari?" he bent forward and turned to his friend who was about five feet to his left.

"No, I think it was real." Everyone stared at her, completely shocked. She wanted to agree, and be positive with what Daisuke said, but something did not add up. Without another word, she stood up and left the table, not even bothering to put away her plates.

The next day, Hikari entered the cell to take off the bandages only to find them on the ground. The blonde-haired person was now holding onto a knob in the wall to support himself. At first, Hikari chuckled a little, because he nearly fell, but soon she became concerned. Walking again could mean his escape. Luckily, her brother decided to meander in at that moment.

"Good, you're walking again. Guess we won't have to push you around in a barrel next time we take you out." He said. It was as if he had no fear about what the consequences were. "Okay sis, since he's your responsibility, you're going to help him."

Naturally, Hikari stared at him, mouth agape. "This is not a time for jokes Taichi," she sternly told him. Taichi ushered her to go outside, and closed the door behind him.

"I trust him Kari." She stared at her brother and concluded that he had lost his mind. "The way he cried yesterday; it couldn't have been an act." He stared into her eyes, trying to make her understand. "Lunar Corp soldiers don't feel regret, or guilt, but he did, he even cried because of it." His brown eyes silently demanded for her to believe in him.

Hikari was unsure at her brother's decision, but how could she turn him down? So she reached past Taichi to open the large grayish red door. Inside she could still see a blonde bush struggling to stabilize itself against the wall. She walked over and grabbed his arm.

The blonde retracted from the sudden movement, lost his balance, and fell onto a very surprised Hikari. She felt angry; things were not starting out very well. Pushing him off herself, Hikari helped the man get up. The man realized her intentions and did his best to make it easier. She hooked his arm around her neck and let him lean on her.

"Okay, now try putting weight on your left leg," she said. It felt awkward to have him on her shoulder, because she was on his right side, therefore had to lean far over to the left with him.

Straining to keep her balance, "Okay, now put your right foot forward and go." The weight shift was a welcome relief compared to the awkward position she was in before.

However, it was only temporary, because he slipped onto hard but moldy cement and dragged her down on top of him. Her face ended up right above his, and strange thoughts popped into her head. She shook them away and sighed, '_this is going to be a long day._'

Now Hikari no longer visited the blonde to bandage him, but to help him walk. After a week of tedious work, he had managed to stand for about an hour. Noticing the progress, Taichi had decided to post armed guards around him at all times. After three more days, the blonde could walk around without help.

Hikari grew concerned, especially since he requested to see the hospital again. Was he going to use those people as shields to escape, or perhaps he'll slowly steal their blood and gain strength like a vampire. As unlikely as these scenarios were, Hikari was sure the former soldier was up to something; she didn't want to believe otherwise.

The day started like any other. The blonde woke up to a loud bang and light cascading into the room. Today was to be his first day outside. "Get up," she ordered. The man stared at her a little, then slowly got to his feet. Finally, he followed Hikari to the small hospital. On the way, she threw him a small bun for breakfast and talked to a few friends.

Jyou greeted the two with a warm smile. Hikari never understood what was going on in the man's mind; he seemed to be jolly with the young blonde in the tent. "Hi, welcome back to FOST. I'm honored that you chose to come back here."

The blonde walked around helping Jyou do some menial tasks like giving patients water, or changing bed pans and listened to Jyou run around talking about what he did all day, where his family was from as well as why he had blue hair. Hikari secretly frowned as she was bandaging an old woman's broken leg.

Suddenly, Jyou stopped jabbering, and asked, "What's your name?" Hikari nearly fell over and stabbed her patient at this question. He stood there and stared at Jyou, then looked at Hikari, and returned his gaze to Jyou.

"Come now, you can't be a number forever. In fact, I know that you are no longer called by your number as soon as you finish your test. So what's your name?" Jyou calmly stood there rolling up some plastic tubes. He looked up and smiled.

"Takaishi, Takeru." The blonde answered firmly.

"Takaishi eh?" Jyou mused, "Sounds good."

Hikari scoffed, "What difference does it make if he has a name or-" the sound of rapid gunfire rudely interrupted her. The three of them ran outside, followed closely by Takaishi's guards.

Eight men clad in black had entered the base camp and started shooting every armed person in sight. They ran down the stairs, just avoiding a hail of retaliation fire. As soon as the first four reached ground floor, they took up their positions with their backs on each other. The leader shot down the guards on the tower. The second one shot down those who approached them, and the third and fourth soldiers fired out into the camp randomly, offering cover for the second group.

The second group formed up while shooting at the innocent people running for their lives. It joined with the first group and shot down anything that moved. Everyone scrambled for the exit on the other side. A few who were armed, managed to kill one or two of the invaders before dying themselves.

Soon the rebels had formed a firing group to stop this raid, but the Lunar Corp soldiers had planted themselves behind bins and crates and they picked off the resistance one by one. The small battle had led the men to the front of the medical tent, where the group of five was scrambling to get the sick to safety.

Hikari emerged from the tent to check on the battles progress, only to see Takaishi's guards incapacitated next to him. The blonde dropped to the ground and picked up a weapon.

Her fears had come true; she knew that he had betrayed them, and searched for a weapon on the ground. She found a rifle, picked it up and pointed it at Takaishi, who was not looking in her direction. Instead, the man had lifted his gun and pointed it at the soldiers beyond her vision. She lowered her rifle, slightly surprised.

Takaishi killed one of his assailants in the middle of their formation. Hikari acted quickly while the soldiers now focused on Takaishi, and shot a water heating tube. It sprayed hot mist that allowed the rebels to sneak behind the soldiers. Hikari then picked off a man standing off in the left. When the mist cleared, four more soldiers were laying on the ground, dead.

Takaishi, seemingly out of bullets, ran up the last man standing. He grabbed the guy from behind and was flipped. Takaishi, acting quickly, punched out the man's right knee. The man screamed in pain and grabbed a knife from his side. He lifted up his knife; Takaishi prepared to block the attack. A crack echoed in the air, the knife never came down. Hikari lowered her smoking rifle.

"Why'd you shoot at your own people?" she asked as she moved to help him up.

He impassively replied, "Because they were shooting at me."

Terms:  
Panthophobia- An abnormal and persistent fear of suffering and disease.

Please R&R


	3. A Happy, Go Lucky Adventure

In chapter 1, hopemaster asked me what Takeru's name was before the age 15, and I forgot to answer. Well, here it is now. In this Universe, the soldiers are labeled by numbers at birth, when they turn 15; they pass the survival/loyalty test and earn a name. Therefore, Takeru didn't actually have a name before the age 15; he is merely a number until then.

Peace Keeper Takeru Takaishi

Ch. 3 _A Happy Go-Lucky Adventure_

Takeru was ready. It was to be his first mission outside of the compound. For a while, he helped Jyou and the nurses with patients; some have even come to accept him as a part of the camp. Hikari, who was very skeptical of his loyalties, seemed to tolerate him. Eventually he was even allowed to sleep outside the dark room. Takeru had even developed somewhat of a sense of humor with his time at the hospital. He was now free to roam around the compound as he wished. Every so often, he would even help organize missions that Taichi or Sora lead.

Takeru had no interest in returning to Lunar Corp. He always was an expendable asset, but now, he had outlived his usefulness. In addition, there was always the fact that Hikari Kamiya always managed to make him feel uneasy, but in an oddly good way. Takeru was curious about this feeling; he once asked Sora to explain why faces burn and turn red. She suddenly developed a stuttering problem and referred him to Jyou, who smiled with an understanding face and treated more patients without saying a word.

Today was the day he could prove his allegiance to the rebels. They were in need of weapons for another mission, and Lunar Corp had managed to temporarily cut off their supply. A team was to attack the storage facility on the outer border of Tokyo and obtain three crates, two for ammunition and one for new assault rifles. An undercover contact helped get the building plans and security codes for the area.

Takeru rode on a black van for forty-five minutes to the storage facility. On the road, Taichi went over the plans once more, "Okay people," he looked down at the blueprints, "We are going to steal three crates that are marked with a yellow x." The group stared at his hands as they pointed to entry paths. "There will be about one to two guards surrounding the area, so the mission should be no problem." The group nodded in agreement. Everyone put on their ear phones and turned on their transmitters.

"Iori, Etsushi and I shall locate the power lines and connect to the security system through it," confirmed Koushiro, "Takeru and Haruka is to keep watch outside, while Taichi, Naoyuki and Tsukika go for the crates."

"Right," yelled Taichi, "are we ready?" he asked as the pulled up to the facility. Without waiting for an answer, he opened the van's back doors. The teams scrambled for the positions. Everyone noted where the second van waiting in the darkness was located.

Takeru hopped onto the asphalt. His MtK-68 rested on his right arm and an old Glock 37 was holstered by his hip. Like everyone else, he donned some dark clothes to blend into the night and kept a knife in his right boot. He lifted his rifle, and slowly glided to the opposite side of the building, checking for any unexpected personnel. Haruka took the opposite direction. Both took out the security guards around the building and notified Koushiro's team.

The hack team worked quickly to access the security. As they had planned, Iori had hacked into the system and opened the front doors. Koushiro radioed Taichi for the go signal.

Taichi entered the building with no trouble. He searched for his crates and came across many weapons and ammunition crates as he passed them, though, he ignored them all. For now, he wanted the marked crate. Naoyuki and Tsukika were curious as to why he had to have those crate, but decided not to question him.

Then, twenty soldiers broke out of different crates, and began shooting at the recovery team. Naoyuki was disabled at once, Taichi and Tsukika both jumped behind other crates for cover.

Koushiro then contacted Taichi, "Taichi, you must leave there immediately, there will be an ambush."

Taichi yelled into the radio on his shoulder, "TOO LATE," he saw a grenade land next to him and jumped away from it to another crate. The soldiers continued their barrage. "Tsukika, are you alright?" he questioned the ceiling. He moved to shoot back at his attackers.

"Yeah, but we gotta get outta here!" she yelled back from another part of the building. Rapid gunfire followed the noise.

"We have to find the marked crate first!" Taichi insisted. "It contains the plans of the next prototype weapon." He yelled in her direction. He fired in the direction of the soldiers some more then rapidly eyed the crated around him.

Takeru and Haruka heard the shots from outside. They rushed into the building to aid their allies against the sudden attack. While the soldiers concentrated on the firefight with Taichi and Tsukika, Takeru and Haruka were able to pick them off from behind. Together, the pair quickly eliminated 5 of the Lunar Corp's forces.

Unfortunately, they were running out of ammunition. Taichi heard a female scream to his right; he withdrew further toward the back of the warehouse, and found the marked box. The military unit was moving closer to him. About four soldiers fired at Taichi while the remaining targeted Takeru and Haruka.

Takeru punched open the crate in front of him and pulled out some explosives from the straw-like material and threw them in the direction of oncoming fire. Taichi heard a loud bang and stood up to open the crate. He stuck his arm in the filling and pulled out some papers. Looking up, he called out, "We have to move quickly!" Pushing some more straw aside, he found a case and opened it, revealing a small detonation system. His fingers attacked the number pad, hoping that he managed to program in a sixty second delay in detonation.

"Let's go!" he yelled as he sprinted for the closest exit. Takeru and Haruka shot over the enemy soldiers as cover fire and followed Taichi's example. They found the escape vehicles without a problem, Koushiro's team already on board. Everyone was on board and prepared to leave when Taichi saw Naoyuki struggling on the ground in the warehouse.

Taichi stuck the papers into Koushiro's hands and ran back for the boy. "We can't leave him behind," echoed in his wake. The remaining members worried, thirty seconds remained on the bomb and the Peace Keepers were about to emerge from the large entrance.

Takeru spotted Taichi right in front of them; he had the boy over his arm and was struggling to get him out. The extra weight slowed him down and the body made him an easy target. Gunfire echoed out of the structure; Taichi fell to the floor with the headless body of Naoyuki slung over his shoulder. The driver yelled for them to leave; only fifteen seconds were left.

Takeru refused to let him; he felt that he owed something to the brunette and jumped out to save him. He grabbed Taichi, and sprinted for the dark vehicle; everyone inside fired at those behind him. He hopped onto the vehicle and it took off in the direction of the crescent moon; the building behind them in flames.

Taichi was on the van's floor, bleeding to death; Takeru did his best apply a field dress with a basic first aid kit and his own clothes as gauze. Taichi had been hit on the side, his fourth back rib, and left shoulder blade, where Naoyuki's head slowed the bullet, so it only broke the skin. "Where's Naoyuki?" asked Taichi.

"Dead," Takeru placidly stated and continued dressing the wounds. Taichi cried out in pain, and fell unconscious.

As they returned, Taichi was quickly moved to the medical tent. Jyou complemented Takeru for his fast action with the wounds; it had saved Taichi's life. Takeru was sure that he had proved himself; even Hikari had to admit that his loyalties certainly did not lie with Lunar Corp. She was grateful that her last living relative was alive.

A few days later, everyone crowded around a small television. "Quiet!" shouted Daisuke, who strained his neck over Takeru's shoulder. The reporters were in frenzy; a rebel spy that had been located in the depths of Lunar Corp's research program and was to be executed today. The bodies of Tsukika and Naoyuki hung in the central plaza, as if it were the Warring States Era.

"The terrorist confessed all his acts against the government during police questioning," said the Japanese reporter; all the rebels knew they meant torture.

Taichi recognized the young man standing on the pedestal, "Ryo!" he shouted in his cast. It was his informant, the one who hid the plans. Immediately, Ryo had his head strapped back to a chair with a bowl shaped hat device. The executioner flipped a nearby switch and watched the young man fry.

The crowd shouted with excitement, "Traitors must die!"

Please R&R


	4. Confessions of a Lifetime

Disclaimer- I forgot if I put up one of these, so here it is. I don't own any of the Digimon cast; I do, however, claim the plot and any such original thing in this story.

A very grateful thank you goes to Small Rain Fairy Cherry, who was my beta reader, and helped me a great deal especially with the last paragraph.

Peace Keeper Takeru Takaishi

Ch. 4 _Confessions of a Lifetime_

Takeru traveled down to their new campsite with three rolls of black paper and a box of rusty scissors. It was Hikari's birthday, and it was good luck to have black paper on a birthday. In the past, it had been the first day of The Great Purge, the day everyone lost everything, but Taichi couldn't have anyone disappointed on the day his sister was born. He wanted to make sure that she had the best 20th birthday ever. The entire camp had planned a huge celebration for the young lady who cared for the sick.

Daisuke, Taichi, Koushiro and Jyou decided to go out and steal a couple of cows from the closest commune to the east. Her birthday was to be the equivalent of a holiday in their minds. Some people thought it was a waste of resources, others thought that it was a great excuse to escape from their mundane lives.

Hikari was overwhelmed with by her friends. She did her best to convince Taichi that the camp's supplies could be put to better use. However, he would not hear of it; it was his sister's 20th birthday, and he was proud. The man then walked away humming; his mind focused about how perfect he could make the party, the main entrée for dinner already being planned in his mind.

Hikari, a little disappointed with her progress with Taichi, soon became frustrated with how many people began approaching her with gifts and words of wisdom, some children even offered birthday pinches. She did her best to entertain the extra people in the hospital tent and diverted them to a better place to talk, but eventually even Jyou became annoyed and politely asked her to take the day off, "Because it's your birthday" was his excuse.

Finally, after an eternity of "thank you"s, "stop that"s and "I don't know"s, she finally managed to successfully hide from her new fans. Takeru found her sitting in an old shack located on the surface. It was a small room with one wooden bed, a broken chair and a single window facing a deserted farm. She stared at the field of weeds through the broken glass. "Please don't tell me Happy Birthday," she begged.

"Very well," he said, and silently joined her on the bed.

"They died today you know." She stared aimlessly at the sky. Takeru shook his head and continued sitting. "I loved them a lot," she stated, "I don't remember much. I mean, I was only five when Lunar Corp took them away." She turned to him looking for some reassurance, and he smiled a bit.

She let out a stiff laugh, "I remember this time when Tai and I were little. He told me to that there were tiny somethings that lived in the park, so one night I snuck out and went to look for them. I got there and waited. My parents realized I was gone and panicked." Her eyes filled with tears. "By the time they found me, my mom didn't care that I disappeared, but she was overjoyed that I was okay." Hikari lifted her sleeve to wipe away the forming tears. "What about you, do you remember anything special?" This time, it was her turn to hear a story.

He stared at her a bit, thinking about his past. "When I was ten, I was stationed as the personal guard of a prisoner." He stared at the wall and continued, "He was a nice man. He always talked to me, even though I never said anything." Hikari stared at the ground drawing in his words. "He often talked about his children, how great they were; how much he missed them; and how much he regretted to not be with them."

"Really, any stories?" She seemed to brighten up at the mention of the word; the traces of her old memories seemingly gone. Takeru grinned, he knew about her obsession with children.

Takeru thought for a moment, although he had listened to the old man, he was not blessed with a good long term memory. "Umm, there was one time when his son thought the cookie jar was a cookie and he tried to eat it. The father was not home and the mother was doing the laundry so the boy managed to break off a piece of the giant jar. He then proceeded to eat it. A few minutes later he went to his mother and complained of a stomach ache, so they tried to treat it with conventional medicines but they did not work. A few hours later his daughter had been picked up from nursery; she located the broken cookie jar. Then they realized what happened and rushed the boy to the hospital, where the broken ceramic pieces were extracted."

Hikari sat there and nodded while listening. She noted that Tk was not very good at telling stories, especially when it involved humor; Jyou would be very disappointed that all those hours spent with him had gone to waste. She wondered whether or not those children ever grew up. Then she thought about Takeru.

While they sat silently some more, she decided it was more comfortable to lean her back against his side. He naturally moved his arm around her waist to accommodate their new position. Neither of them thought much about it, and neither seemed to dislike the idea of improved comfort in a dirty shack.

Hikari recalled how much hatred she bore for Takeru; it was ironic now how she could be so close and not care. "If Taichi saw us like this…" she mused and smiled to herself.

The afternoon wore on, and Hikari had begun dozing off. Takeru sat there wondering what he should do; being bored had never been a problem in the camp. He chose a spot on the wall and pondered the many ways he could give Hikari her birthday present. His first thought consisted of just handing it to her, and then it became too impersonal. Then he thought to giving it to her during presents would be easiest. He scrolled through his thoughts for the next hour until Jun stormed into the shack.

"HIKARI, the party is almost starting!" She grabbed the surprised girl and dragged her toward the entrance of the base. Takeru just sat there, somewhat shocked and disappointed at the suddenly missing person that leaned on his side. He got up, checked on the potted plant next to the shack; then returned to the underground chamber.

He emerged from the entrance to find a huge amount of people gathering around the dining area. Hikari, located in the middle, had been entreated to addressing the crowd. She nervously stood up on a table and began to speak, "Well, umm, I'm glad you guys are celebrating my birthday, and well, it's been a really nice day. Thank you to everyone for making this day so wonderful, umm; it's Hidetsugu's birthday too, so I'll let him speak."

Everyone cheered at her speech, and shouted louder when four-year-old Hidetsugu was hoisted onto his father's shoulders. The child mindlessly entertained everyone with his ramblings about his goals of seeing a panda one day and about his "wife" the young Touko. At the end, everyone lined up to receive their daily meal with cake as a special birthday addition.

Those close to Hikari gave her wonderful presents. Taichi gave over a few pictures he found of the ocean. Daisuke handed over some interesting rocks he found on a mission; Sora gave her some hand made clothes. Koushiro gave an envelope with medicinal recipes he researched from other rebel bases. Iori gave some dried fruit, and Jyou gave some scarves that his wife had knitted. Takeru merely offered his congratulations on "living for 20 full years" as he put it.

Although a little disappointed with the last 'present,' she thanked everyone whole-heartedly. The party dissipated as soon as the food disappeared. It was the middle of the night now, and the children had all returned to their usual cots.

The adults savored what was left of their day off. Daisuke had his arm hooked around Taichi, and both had begun to sing an incomprehensible song. Everyone stared at them and laughed. Even Hikari entertained herself with their stupidity.

"C'mon, Sora, sing with us." Taichi slurred.

"No thank you Tai," she politely refused and turned to leave.

"Aww, it's nothin' embarrassing," garbled Daisuke.

Taichi fiercely nodded his head, "Yeah, its nothing like what you did last night," he slurred once again.

Sora froze during her departure, and her face turned red. She spun around and grabbed the man by the ear, "Taichi Kamiya, I can't believe you said that."

"Ah…ah…ow…ow…," Taichi yelped as the red head dragged him away, "ITAI!" the man screamed as soon as they were out of sight.

The crowd, now confused, decided to return their attention to the lone Daisuke, who decided to get another to join him in merriment. A few other drunken people staggered in and joined and they sang and drank for another hour. Soon enough, Daisuke had gotten so intoxicated that he fell over and vomited, thus dispersing the crowd in a highly efficient manner. As soon as everyone else left, Hikari hoisted her half-conscious friend so he could lean on her as they headed toward the hospital tent.

When they were half way there, "Hey Kari?" he slurred, eyes half open; no one else was around.

"Yes?" she responded, as she pulled on his arm behind her neck and tried to keep the both of them in balance.

"Do you love him?" this time, he seemed unusually clear for a drunken man.

Confused, she answered, "Who?"

"Soldier boy, who else?" Daisuke sunk toward the ground which caused her to pull harder in an effort to support him while they moved.

"What kind of question is that; of course I love him, he's a good friend." She stated immediately, though it didn't feel quite right.

"Friend," he sighed, "Good." He seemed to be a little happier. Hikari felt uneasy about what he was getting at; she hoped that was the end of the conversation. However, Daisuke slammed his feet into the ground, causing Hikari to turn toward him, and kissed her.

Hikari froze for the moment that their lips touched. It had occurred to her that she should have broken away, but she was completely shocked at the sudden move.

"I'm in love with you, Hikari Kamiya." he proclaimed when it ended. Hikari turned red, no one had ever done that before; she took a step back, thinking about what this meant. For a moment their eyes met, then his faltered a little and his whole body fell forward, onto Hikari. She used all her strength to prevent them from crashing to the ground, then Takeru arrived. He held up Daisuke, who was unconscious, without trouble, and flung him over his shoulder.

"Are you trying to get him to Jyou?" He looked concerned. Hikari, still red and at a loss for words, nodded. Then they headed for the hospital, and placed Daisuke on one of the cots.

Hikari stared at the sleeping body, she didn't know how to react to his confession, he would have more than likely forgotten the night's events by the next morning, but she still was unsure. Takeru walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, "I have something to give you." Hikari turned to him questioningly, but nodded her head in agreement. Takeru took her hand and led her to the surface, where the moon and stars lit up the night sky.

They emerged by the shack once more. "What are you going to…" Hikari stared down at Takeru as he picked something up.

"This is a Sakura tree," he said holding up a small pot with a stick in the middle. Hikari stood there, somewhat shocked; it was not what she pictured a Sakura to be like.

"This—this is so thoughtful, thank you." She held the pot now; looking at it intensely she noticed that there were small green buds poking out of the stick.

"You are welcome," Takeru smiled, looking pleased, "Actually, I have a confession."

"Hmm?" she mumbled, while she concentrated on counting the number of green tips that appeared.

"I love you." Takeru blurted, managing to regain Hikari's attention.

Again, Hikari was shocked; it was the second time within an hour. Takeru seemed a little disappointed in the lack of response. For a moment, he regretted what he had said.

Then Hikari looked up into his blue eyes and smiled, "Thank you Takeru." She held the little pot tightly and kissed his cheek. Still smiling, she returned to the substructure. Takeru just stood there with his hand over the cheek she kissed; he had no idea what to think. After an hour, he decided that she misinterpreted what he had said, and determined to tell her his feelings some other time.

Hikari woke early the next morning. Memories of the night before flooded her mind. Daisuke's confession was shocking, but Takeru's left her so surprised, the only words she thought of were, "thank you." Shaking her head in order to forget, she looked outside.

A faint amount of sunlight reflected from the surface mirrors, giving everything had a deep blue tint. Few people were awake at that hour, and even fewer had come out of their communal tents. She waved to Takeru, who was on his morning run, and headed to the hospital tent as usual. Tetsushi, who happened to be on night shift, greeted her. He gladly passed her the keys to the medicine trunk and left for bed. After saying goodbye, she did a quick check of the different patients then settled herself in a chair with a book in hand.

After about an hour, she stood up, checked the patients again and greeted Jyou when he arrived. For the next hour, they conversed on supply concerns and the future goals of the hospital. Once again, at the end of the hour, she checked upon all seven patients that stayed there for the night. This time, she decided to wake up Daisuke, who soon complained of a massive headache, and thankfully, seem to have no recollection what happened the night before.

The rest of the day consisted of the same menial tasks. She watched many people taking down decorations around the tent; a few had come in for advice from Jyou. At the end, she finally switched shifts with the next nurse.

As soon as the keys left her hand, she began heading towards the small school. There she saw Takeru for the second time that day. Lately he had become the unofficial babysitter for the parents who were too busy to look after the younger children. Little five-year-old Takahiko sat on Takeru's shoulders while other children ran around the adult in a game of tag. Takeru seemed to be enjoying the game as he moved around in a half run, occasionally dipping a little so he could tag one of the other children. Hikari decided to watch them at a distance, not wanting to ruin the game.

"Haha, uncle Tk can't catch me!" yelled one of the boys.

"You just watch," Takeru said playfully; he glanced up at Takahiko and both nodded as if they had a secret agreement. Then he let the boy down, and both began to chase after the other children. Takeru paused for a moment, glanced over to Hikari and waved, then continued his game with the kids. They played for nearly an hour until Taichi approached the blonde and stopped the game.

He bent down to the kids, "I'm gonna borrow uncle Tk ok?"

"Aww, bud we were habing pun," said a particularly young girl. All the smiles disappeared, and they grabbed onto Takeru, not wanting him to leave. Takeru just stood there, completely helpless.

Hikari approached, "C'mon now, uncle Tk has things to do. How about I play with you instead?"

The young girl looked at her, "Auntie Kari won't leave?"

Hikari shook her head, "In fact, when Uncle Tk comes back, we'll all play together, ok?" The children cheered and let go of the poor blonde, who was relieved. He quickly thanked her and left with Taichi.

Takeru arrived in the Command tent to see the other mission specialists already waiting for him. Taichi sat on the floor space furthest in from the entrance and rolled out blue prints for a large military compound.

"Tomorrow, we are supposed to extract an Itsumi Nakane from this research facility," stated Koushiro with his usual serious demeanor. He held up his worn laptop with the picture of a woman with long black hair, glasses, and an unusually light skin color. "It seems she wishes to defect from Lunar Corporation for reasons unknown, but valid enough for Central Command to send us after her.

Taichi spoke up, "There will be three teams, one for the extraction operation, one for backup and one for hacking security. Koushiro, you'll take Iori, Yuumi and Gai to hack into the security system from outside the compound. Sora, you'll lead Daisuke, ­­­ Ukito and Shouji. I'll take Takeru, Ruki and Masahito to go get the lady."

"Hey!" Daisuke interfered, "I want to save the chick." The group shot him a blank stare. "You never know what she'll do with her knight in shining armor," he smirked.

Sora rolled her eyes, Takeru looked at him questioningly, Taichi patted the man on the back and Koushiro merely shook his head. "I don't mind a little switch," said Sora, "Do you?" she looked at Taichi, who winced at a vague memory of incredible pain.

"I think it's an excellent idea." He read the team list again, this time Daisuke replaced Ruki on the extraction team and Ruki joined the backup. Ruki did not seem disgruntled by the change either, murmuring something about not willing to risk her life for some stranger.

Koushiro wasted no time as soon as the teams were agreed upon and pointed to a relatively small building approximately seven kilometers from the center. "We will make contact with Nakane here," he moved his finger to a small tunnel under a wall that surrounded the entire compound; "This will be how we get in and out. Sora, you will take your team and guard the entrance while Taichi's team will go to the rendezvous point." He moved his finger around many different structures on the map, while specifically marking the known patrol spots in light pencil. "My team will be here," he pointed to a place about half a kilometer outside of the compound, "where we will hack into the security system and help you maneuver through the base."

Everyone stared down at the blue print intently, memorizing every structure and path, as well as the possible enemy hot spots. This mission was far more dangerous than the usual "retrieve supplies" outing; Nakane probably knew something incredibly valuable to the rebels to risk this many lives.

At the end of the briefing, everyone left for their respective sleeping quarters. The mission was supposed to be the day after tomorrow, and Koushiro had told them to rest well. Everyone was a little edgy about what was to happen, especially with Koushiro's last words before the meeting was adjourned, "Central Command has told me that this is a high risk assignment, the chances of returning alive is about twenty-five percent, but it's imperative that we get Nakane, and you people are the best we have."

Takeru spent his time in relative peace. The next morning he went on a daily jog around the camp area; like usual he tried to do it just in time to see Hikari on her way to the Hospital. He still wanted to tell her his feelings, but the morning didn't seem appropriate. Keeping his pace, he waved to her that Wednesday morning and ran up to the surface for some fresh air. He tended a small herb plant like he usually did and ran back down to see how the vendors were doing that day, hoping for a small bun made by the old lady in the faded red tent.

He felt fine, the severity of the mission didn't bother him, or at least, that's what Takeru told himself. The morning ended a little too quickly and lunch time came around. Normal lunches were usually leftovers from the previous dinner eaten with the family. Takeru ate together with his usual group. Today he sat next to Hikari in the large circle of friends. Iori was across from him discussing something with Koushiro. Daisuke sat on the other side of Hikari and was inhaling his food at record speed, while next to him Taichi was whispering things into Sora's ear that caused her to smile and laugh.

Jyou showed up half way through with his wife and three children. Immediately, Daisuke managed to wrestle away the badly hidden pie in the man's hands. As soon as Taichi saw it leave the Doctor's fingertips, he attacked his younger clone in an attempt to take it. Sora looked on with disgust, mentally noting to chastise him later, while Hikari talked to the children with blue hair. Takeru watched her happily chat away with the preteen and little twins. He lost himself in an instant, staring into her hazel eyes, her sparkling hair and her glowing face; she was an angel.

Iori's cough brought him back to reality. The young man stared at his seniors with disapproval as the pie was now resting nicely on his head. Takeru looked on with confusion while the rest of the group had exploded in laughter. After five minutes, lunch was over and Iori cleaned himself up. Everyone returned to their respective duties, and so the afternoon passed just like the morning.

It was now dinnertime. Everyone ate in the common area, a few people wandered around, not fearing for the supply of food. The teams were there, enjoying the last of what was possibly their last meal. No one said what was on their minds, all of them were unwilling to admit the possibility of not returning in the end. Takeru quickly ate his dinner, then watched Hikari slowly finish hers. Today he would tell her, this time making sure she knew what he meant.

Hikari got up and put her tray away. "May I talk to you," Takeru's voice came from behind.

She turned around, "Yes, is everything alright?" she was concerned, he had not said anything more than a typical greeting to her for the entire day.

Takeru drew in a deep breath, "I would like to—"

"Hey Kari!" interrupted Daisuke, "Lets go check out the Suicide Mission Party at Akito's place." Then he flung his arm around her shoulders and dragged her away.

Kari looked back at Takeru, "I'll talk to you later," she mouthed. Takeru knew it was unlikely, and he needed his rest for the next mission, so he sighed and walked toward his sleeping area.

He passed by two figures embracing in the glow of the night. He pretended not to see the familiar spiked hair; it did not matter anyway, neither Taichi nor Sora appeared to notice that he had walked by. Their silhouettes quickly disappeared into the shadows; leaving Takeru to concentrate on his own romantic issues. There was little else he could do; Takeru had no desire to forcefully drag Hikari from her best friend, although Daisuke was his rival. He did his best to comfort himself before arriving at his tent. "The next day is important," he repeated to himself until the night overcame his senses.

At the party, Hikari watched her friend dance with every person he could grab. He jigged with the men, and waltzed with the women, then finally sat next to her out of exhaustion. Many others were still dancing with the music.

"Why don't you dance?" He asked while panting.

She shook her head, "I don't really feel like it." Her mind still rested on the two confessions from the night before.

"Is it because of what I did last night?" He stared at the ground between his shoes in a rare moment of seriousness.

Hikari flipped her head to face his hunching body, "You remember?" she nearly screamed.

Daisuke grinned as he lifted his head and looked into her eyes, "I wanted you to know."

Hikari paused, then looked back, "I love you Daisuke…"

"But..." he said for her, "only as a friend, right?" Deep inside, Daisuke had hoped for something different, but he knew better.

Hikari nodded, "You'll always be my friend, and—"

"You really are in love with him aren't you?" he interrupted.

She turned towards the dancing crowd, "I don't know." They sat there in silence, watching the people dance to a slow song for what seemed an eternity.

Daisuke suddenly stood up, and shouted in front of the crowd, "I love you Kari, and somehow I'll win your heart." then he gave her that cocky smile that made her want to slap him, and walked off in the direction of his tent, leaving behind Hikari and the now whispering crowd.

The next day the mission teams woke early. Takeru ritually took apart his rifle and handgun to clean the parts. He held up the pieces one by one, and scrubbed and oiled them, making sure they were in good condition. In the end, he put the last pieces back into place, held up the empty weapon, aimed into the air, and pulled the trigger to hear a click. Then the face clock showed six; he grabbed his combat gear, and headed for the departure area.

A few people visited the group before they left. Hikari hugged her brother, and wished him good luck. She gave a quick bow to the rest of the teams and rushed off to work. Now ready to depart, everyone looked at each member as if to confirm their presence, then boarded their assigned vans. The three vans then took off out of the hidden garage, onto rocky ground.

The ride would last the whole day. Most tried to sleep, though the vehicle bumped and vibrated over the rocky path. An hour past before they reached any type of asphalt. Daisuke didn't seem bothered by the ride's conditions, for he was snoring within a short amount of time. Taichi managed to do the same and Masahito decided to take out a Christian bible and read his favorite passage. He once offered to share his God to Takeru, but the blonde had trouble trusting in a deity that could not be seen. Masahito settled himself to be content with trying; he was not one to hound others into religion. After The Great Purge, many had turned to Buddha, Christ, or Muhammad in the rough times; Masahito was confident that Takeru would one day realize that there was more to life than just living on his own time.

Takeru checked over his MtK-68 once more. All the members had done so in the morning; now, their dark urban camouflage were folded nicely next to ammunition clips, handguns, knives, specialty kits and explosives. The rifles rested next to their respective owners.

Some time passed in silence. The driver, one of the few who knew how, felt it was important to stop midway, so he and the other drivers could rest, in order to avoid an accident due to fatigue.

They met up with the other vans in a small park area in the remnants of a small town. There were others there, mostly homeless, or people too poor to go anywhere else. No one cared about the large group of fifteen that stepped out of questionable vans. None asked, lest the answer be a bullet.

They stayed for twenty minutes; just longvenough to take care of personal needs, yet short enough so the locals would not develop too much interest in their presence. The time passed quickly and once more, the teams were on the road.

After another few hours, Daisuke had grown restless. Usually, his normal team members kept him distracted, but Taichi's team was duller. He developed a sudden interest in certain parts of Genesis, and continuously asked disturbing questions until Masahito determined the man was more interested in sex than God, and told him to stay silent.

Taichi, who had gotten used to the silence, was reading a comic strip. It was the same one he had for every mission since he was fifteen. The political joke no longer had any meaning, and the words were barely legible, but somehow, Taichi was always surprised by the punch line.

They arrived at the research base around dusk, and stopped in the middle of the forest. It would be a few hours before the extraction initialized so everyone seized the opportunity to check their equipment.

Everyone was nervous, now that they had arrived at the location; the possibility of death was closer to reality. No one admitted it. The team leaders couldn't, Daisuke certainly wouldn't, Takeru felt it was irrelevant, and the rest avoided it; admitting it made it possible.

Their last minute preparations passed in silence. Even the animals surrounding their patch of the forest ceased their activities to keep the quiet. Time clicked slowly for the anxious teams. Taichi finished going over the plans far too sluggishly, equipment checks went by like a snail, then the mission came up and reality slapped them awake. They geared up and snuck towards the hidden entrance.

Half way there, Koushiro's team broke off and headed towards the power cables, where security could be hacked. The other teams neared the secret entrance south west of the Main Gate. The forest surrounding the walled town was perfect for cover; the sentries could only see things that were on the paved road.

Taichi and Sora motioned for everyone to wait for Koushiro's signal of approval before entering the door. Ruki had taken out a small lock pick kit and was preparing for authorization to proceed.

"Prodigious," came Koushiro's voice over their ear comms, "We have security access; the alarm for the door has been terminated, you have a go."

"Copy," said Sora, she nodded at Ruki, who proceeded to pick the lock. After a few seconds, the door was open, and the teams crept inside. They were now in between the large wall surrounding an important research base. Oddly enough, the emptiness of the wall made it seem very weak against attack. The only conclusion was that Lunar Corp had determined that no one was crazy enough to break in. Five minutes passed, and they found the entrance to the compound. Again, Ruki picked the lock as soon as Koushiro confirmed that security measures were shut down. They cautiously opened the door, making sure there were no guards close-by to witness the large group of eight enter.

Sora's team secured the area outside of that exit. Each team member chose a spot somewhat out of site and hid there incase anyone should pass by. Taichi, after making sure Sora was well situated, led his group into the heart of the base.

They moved slowly with their backs glued to each other. Taichi was first, Daisuke, and Takeru were behind him, staring to the right and left, while Masahito took the rear. At the second building, Taichi motioned for a stop, and waited for a patrol to pass by. The soldiers looked young, no more than fourteen all clad in forest green, but they were still efficient killers, if not a little inexperienced.

The team moved on as soon as the guards had passed, getting closer to the rendezvous point. The journey there was relatively quiet, a few patrols passed by without noticing the extra presences, and one or two rats made noises in the isolated sewer system, but the rest was uneventful, quiet and peaceful.

When they finally arrived at the meeting place, no one was there. Koushiro told them to wait for her, so they hid in a dark alleyway that smelled so much that the guards avoided the area. For nearly half an hour, they waited in the dark, staring at the area where Nakane was supposed to appear. Daisuke was getting impatient; he stepped backwards in an effort to turn, but tripped over a large brown mound of towels, which screamed.

Snapping their rifles up they pointed them at what looked like a face of a dirty woman with glasses. It was Nakane, she was about to scream again, except Takeru managed to cover her mouth with his hand. Taichi looked down at her and whispered, "I'm Taichi Kamiya from Base 14, we've been sent here to take you Itsumi Nakane."

She looked at him with understanding, calmed down and motioned Takeru to let go of her jaw. She murmured some thanks and got up, ignoring the bunched up Daisuke on the ground.

The team could not help but notice the amount of white and red on her clothes that would make her a walking target. Takeru thought quickly, picked up a dirty brown towel and instructed the confused scientist to wrap it around herself.

"Koushiro, Sora, we got her, we're going to be heading back now." Taichi confirmed over his radio.

They quickly departed the area, and headed back the way the got in. Again, the trip was fairly uneventful except for a few patrols that, thankfully, did not notice the extra people hiding behind the corners.

They were about one kilometer from Sora's position when they saw a man being dragged toward the center of the base. Nakane seemed a little shocked but hid it quickly.

"Oh where has the time gone," the man screamed in a melody only he could hear, "That I can't enjoy the spring no more." The soldiers dragging him did not seem to enjoy the loud noise the drunken man was making, and did their best to hurry.

As soon as they appeared to pass, Taichi motioned for them to move on. They moved out about three meters when the same drunken man ran into them, chased by those who were carrying him before. "**Itsumi!** Did you sneak out too?" he asked, "Your guards look a hell of a lot older than mine," he slurred.

The team was caught by surprise, as his guards saw the people in black and started firing. Everyone dived for the ground. The formerly shouting man was now stumbling about in a state of confusion. Takeru managed to pull Nakane towards the ground and fired back at the young soldiers.

Everyone hid behind whatever they could find. Taichi found a trashcan, Daisuke was next to him, Takeru and Nakane hid next to a corner, and Masahito rolled along the ground while firing at their attackers. The alarms went off within a few seconds, and reinforcements were arriving form the other side. Taichi had to think quickly, or they would die.

"Taichi, what's going on? The sirens just went off, and I hear gunfire. Are you alright? Taichi? **Tai?**" she screamed his secret nickname in the radio, but soon, she was under fire as well, barely able to hear his answer.

"We're alright, we've just been caught one kilometer from your position, don't worry, we're coming back." He said. He looked to his right in the general direction of the exit, and motioned the others to move one by one while others offered cover fire. Takeru got up first, taking Nakane with him; he dragged her behind a corner, and fired at the soldiers, waiting for the next person to move. Daisuke next, then Taichi, and finally Masahito ran behind the last person under a hail of bullets. The other side had lost about three people in the confusion, simply because of the lack of hiding places to support their numbers. Taichi made them continue the cover, run, shoot and withdraw, which he hoped could continue successfully until they reached Sora.

Takeru was going through his bullets quickly. Soon his turn to run came up; he grabbed the woman, and ran. In a split second she tripped, nearly dragging Takeru down. Gunfire became directed at the vulnerable woman and former soldier. Takeru bent down and grabbed the woman's collar—Daisuke suddenly jumped in between them and the Lunar Soldiers on the other side. Takeru froze in disbelief as Daisuke collapsed to the ground. He grabbed both the fallen man and the shocked woman and dragged them behind a corner, where Taichi and Masahito fired blindly so no one would approach.

Takeru did his best to treat Daisuke's wound, but there was no real hope of survival, too much blood was gushing out.

"Soldier boy," Daisuke gasped.

Takeru looked down; "Yes?" he stayed passive, though his mind was not.

"Promise me you'll keep her safe," both men knew he meant Hikari. Daisuke grabbed the other man's jacket, "Promise me!" he demanded. Takeru nodded, at a loss of words. Comforted by the oath, Daisuke relaxed murmuring with his last breath, "I guess she's yours after all."

The sound of gunfire regained Takeru's attention. Though it seemed like an eternity, Daisuke's last conversation had lasted only thirty seconds, just enough for the other side to advance dangerously close.

"We gotta get out of here!" screamed Taichi while he shot at the boxes and walls. But Takeru couldn't take it anymore; he lost control, and fired with anger at the other side. He refused to move from his spot, killing off the advancing soldiers with supernatural speed and accuracy. His mind was screaming, Daisuke was his rival, but his friend, he loved Hikari, and she loved him too, he did not deserve to die here.  
"not here," Takeru thought, "not here, not here," he repeated in his mind, the secret voice slowly growing stronger, until he screamed, "**Not here!**" and charged into what was left of the other side.

Taichi couldn't believe it, Takeru, for the first time since they've met, had done something reckless. It couldn't have been a worse time. While the man charged into oncoming gunfire, Taichi and Masahito were forced to cover for him, hoping that by some miracle he wouldn't be killed as well.

Ironically, Takeru wasn't hurt at all before reaching his first victim, who got stabbed in the head. The young soldiers were shocked, no one was that suicidal, and those who paused to comprehend, died. Soon enough, there were no more soldiers to kill; Takeru stood there, covered in blood.

"**Are you crazy?**" screamed Taichi, "**We gotta go!**" He would think of punishment later, if they survived. Takeru snapped out of his reverie, grabbed a gun, and ran to his team commander. Replacement soldiers were already on the way.

Sora was having trouble keeping her area secure. Ukito was shot in the beginning of the firefight. Now, one man down, she was desperately trying to keep the door available for Taichi's team. Ruki shot down another soldier; their enemies were inexperienced, but they made up for that with numbers.

"Hurry up Taichi!" Sora screamed into her radio in between spurts of fire, "I can't hold this place for long." She shifted her weight onto her left leg, propped her rifle and fired in the direction of oncoming bullets; a scream meant another hit.

Ruki was not doing that well. She cursed herself for becoming too reliant on Takeru's superior abilities; though that was far from the truth. Her own abilities were exceptional at keeping Death at bay, though she did not know how long it would stay there before breaking through. She mentally noted to do some more training when she returned to the base—if she returned. Lifting the rifle again, she popped her head above the oddly placed, but convenient wooden box she hid behind. The constant cracking came from the merging of bullets and wood, another one whizzed past her ear; they were getting more accurate, or at least luckier.

Soon the sound of gunfire increased. Unable to see what was going on, both Sora and Ruki cringed slightly in fear, though neither would admit it. When the shots seemed to divert from their locations, Ruki popped up her head. She saw Taichi's team shooting their way through from behind the line. They ran through the line like wild men, but not all made it.

It was planned, Takeru ran first; being the fastest, he would distract most of the gunfire. Then Taichi and Nakane, and last would be Masahito, who ran quite fast himself. Takeru went out, flying across the small gap between him and the enemy's flank. He fired wildly at the unsuspecting soldiers, mainly to draw attention, but also to help reduce the number. Then Taichi and Nakane took off soon after, and Masahito ran just behind them. By then, the soldiers had somewhat recovered from the shock of a sudden attack, and more were following Taichi's team from earlier encounters.

The plan worked out well; Ruki flew at the door handle and opened it right before Takeru jumped through, Taichi and Nakane quickly followed likewise, but Masahito did not make it so far. He was mercilessly shot down about half way, though neither Taichi nor Takeru had time to notice. Once they were through the door, Sora yelled at her team to withdraw as well.

Masahito twitched; he was still alive, though now, it was too risky to get him back, and he knew it. Sora had just directed Shouji to leave, and Ruki was next, but she didn't move; her eyes were transfixed on the barely moving body on the ground. She saw him mouth something, but did not hear the words. Nodding, as if to assure him, she lifted up her rifle and fired, Masahito stopped moving.

Sora pushed Ruki through the door, no time for regrets, just time to survive, as they traveled through the tunnel, not knowing if they would emerge only to be caught.

Now they could hear the ear comms once more, and Iori's voice came in loud and clear, "We've locked the gate system, so they can't get out for a while, but there might be some soldiers outside waiting, just be careful."

Thankfully, no one was waiting outside. The teams and Nakane ran as fast as they could to the pick up area. Crack—a shot from the trees, Shouji fell down, dead instantly. The shooter was good at aiming, and everyone scrambled to hide, hoping the shooter was not located behind them. Everyone was low on bullets; Taichi was even on the last clip of his secondary weapon. They waited; oddly there was no other sound, no more shots, just the silence of the darkened forest. Ruki appeared in plain sight with blood dripping down her knife; it was safe to assume she took care of the problem. They moved carefully on, and finally met up with Koushiro's team at the pick up point. The vans were all prepared, and they left for home.

In the van, Taichi was yelling, "**Are you crazy? Not only did you throw yourself into danger, you risked the rest of us too!**" He shook Takeru by his collar, and the blonde just relaxed, accepting the punishment. Taichi continued his bombardment, "**Just because Daisuke died doesn't give you the green to go rampage!**" in his heart he felt that he would have done the same, but Takeru did so first. Now, at least he wasn't the one being chastised.

Taichi yelled at Takeru till his throat was sore, while it was supposed to be a step in the direction of punishment, Taichi yelled his heart out to forget, and convince himself that the man known as Daisuke Motimoya was insignificant in the greater scheme of life. It did not help that he kept flashing to a memory of young Daisuke wearing the goggles Taichi had given him, nor did it help that he knew that Daisuke was Hikari's best friend, and could have been more. He especially did not want to be the one to see his sister's tears when they returned.

Takeru on the other hand was now more concentrated on the pain of his newly bandaged side and arm. He may not have been directly shot, but some of the bullets had skimmed his skin; it was an unpleasant feeling, but better than thinking about fallen comrades. He stared at Nakane, wondering why there was such a risk for her, those important to Lunar Corp never betrayed them, ever.

Izumi Nakane stared back at the blonde known as Takeru; he was an enigma. The way he acted, the way he spoke, everything about him proved he belonged to Lunar Corp, but why would a soldier, bred and raised in the nest of that hive, be part of the rebels? Except now was not the time to question loyalties, it had been a long night, and all were tired, so Nakane fell asleep, dreaming of a world where the one that left her in the real one was alive.

They got back, but there was no welcome. In fact, the base was filled with bustling people getting ready for another move the next day; they were so busy, few noticed the missing faces from the teams.

The families knew though, they waited day and night for the return of their loved ones, praying for their safety. Normally Hikari was the first to greet them, but moving patients was so time consuming that she arrived late. Masahito's wife was first to get the news.

She was in the entrance way, waiting for him to come out of the van, but after Nakane, no one else came. It was decided that Ruki would be the one to break the news, so the young red head went up to the woman, over ten years her senior, "I'm sorry." she said to the wife, two children, and ailing mother. The old woman crushed the little cross in her hands and cried out, as if in physical pain. The wife silently let tears drop down, while the elder son, about twelve, did his best to stay strong for his family. The younger sibling, too young to understand death, kept asking when his father would come home, only to have his mother hug him and cry into the boy's clothes.

Ruki's heart went out to them; past experiences told her that comfort would do little good. She looked around and saw that other families had already arrived; some were distraught, while others embraced their loved ones tightly. Suddenly she felt lonely; being afraid of betrayal, she had never tried to make friends, and no one had tried to be one.

Hikari finally made it out of the hospital, squeezed through the crowd of people now packing items onto departure trucks, and found her brother.

"TAICHI!" she screamed, overjoyed that he was alright. But the way he returned her look made her anxious, "is something wrong, are you hurt?" she blurted quickly.

He didn't respond and had a sullen look on his face, even when Sora came around and tapped his shoulder. She too, looked sad. Hikari knew that they had lost people, but Taichi never let that get to him before.

She looked around for Takeru or Daisuke, thinking that they could explain. She quickly spotted Takeru, since he was the only blonde in camp. "Takeru, what wrong with my brother," she asked, "he just keeps looking sad, but he won't tell me why."

Takeru, who was not facing her, turned, and looked at her the same way Taichi did, "I'm sorry."

"For what," she laughed, trying to make the situation better. He just stared at her, hanging his neck as if ashamed. "What's wrong Takeru, you're acting like Taichi…" she continued, "C'mon tell me." He just stayed silent. Her pleas proved useless, "I'll just ask Daisuke then." Takeru suddenly snapped up his head and stared into her eyes, like he wanted to tell her something, and it finally dawned on her. "Takeru, where's Daisuke?" she asked, secretly hoping that what she was thinking was not true.

"I'm so sorry," came Sora's voice from behind.

Hikari froze. She didn't cry, she couldn't cry, but she just nodded, as if accepting the fact and walked off. The others just stared at her when she disappeared in the crowd, knowing that she felt much more pain than she showed.

Her heart was screaming at her, she remembered her last words to him the night before, how she ignored him that morning, how he felt about her; it was too much. She loved him, he was her best friend, and now, she couldn't even shed a tear. The feeling of guilt tore at her soul; thoughts of going back in time just to see him once more filled her mind. Everyone thought it was best to leave her alone, at least, for a few hours.

It was long past midnight when she returned. Takeru saw her stagger into the small shack where he had confessed his feelings for her. He approached the door, and slowly opened it. She jumped at him, crying into his chest. Takeru wrapped his arms around her and did his best to comfort her with silence; he did not know what to say.

"He's gone," her breath reeked of alcohol, "I can't believe he's gone." She screamed into Takeru's shirt, "It's my fault. He—he told me he loved me before he left, and I didn't say it back." She moved her head as if trying to bury her face into Takeru's chest, suddenly drawing in a sharp breath of air, "Maybe—maybe if I had said it back, he would still be here right now. But I didn't know, I should have, but I couldn't tell him because he just jumped up and said that he would make me fall in love with him." Takeru just stood there silently listening to her rant. "I couldn't say I loved him though, Takeru, because--" she looked up and met Takeru's eyes, "because I'm in love with you."

Takeru was shocked. A confession from the one he loved was great; but she was drunk and distraught, it was hardly the way he wanted it to be. He felt somewhat uneasy, especially when she pulled him closer to her body and kissed him, but he made no effort to stop her advance. There she was, slowly leading him toward the bed with her tongue in his mouth. Incredible guilt flashed through his mind, but it was quickly replaced with desire.

He wanted her. He buried his head into her neck as she wrapped her legs around his hips. Her hands went down to his pants, pulling up his shirt and removing it before he knew what had happened. He moved his right hand up the skin on her stomach. The sudden cold on her skin caused her to shudder. His other hand moved up her bare back, and pulled off her pink shirt. Her hands were working on unbuttoning his pants, once it came undone; he pushed her back onto the mattress, and drew her into another deep kiss. Her hands traced along his chest, and he continued to undress her. In a moment of breath, Takeru traced down her neck with butterfly kisses, and Hikari arched to allow more access. Her hands ran down his back, touching old scars from past fights, but she froze, then broke down crying. Takeru was confused, but remembered the origin of the star shaped scar on his back, another reminder of Daisuke. He sighed, as strong as the urge to continue was, having a sobbing partner did not seem appealing. The guilt returned to his thoughts.

Frowning, he just leaned her back, letting her cry into his bare chest. Soon enough, she became tired and slept. Tomorrow she would wake up with a headache and extreme sensitivity to light.

TBC

Itai- ouch in Japanese. I would have put ouch…but Itai just seemed so much more appropriate in that scene.

R&R


	5. Sakamoto Group Industries

Note – Extraordinarily obvious grammar mistakes are meant to be there, besides that…it just means I'm an idiot.

Ch. 5

Sakamoto Group Industries

Yamato Ishida entered the building that was to be his latest assignment. He was lucky to get such an easy job, especially after losing that team a few years back.

They assigned him a new team, and told him to report to the Sakamoto Group Headquarters. So he went. He walked up to the front desk managed by an obese middle aged woman who decided to bat her eyes at him. The blue eye shadow she wore made it look like she hadn't slept for days, and oddly red-colored lipstick contrasted a great deal with the face powder that made it seem like she hadn't seen the sun in years. Unfortunately it was obvious that it was powder because of the line that ran down the side of her cheek where the powder ended and the real skin began. Her dress was a little less gaudy than her face. The light blue dress was probably designed to be sexy, but on her, it ended up looking more like a muumuu. All in all, Yamato was not impressed, and did his best to ignore the way she made eye contact.

"Lieutenant Major Yamato Ishida reporting for duty ma'm." he saluted in attention position, anything less would have been unacceptable to the normal citizens.

The woman slowly looked over his body, as if imagining what she could do with it, paused, and responded, "Well, _Yamato_," she said in what sounded like her best attempt at a seductive voice, "I'm Michiyo Kitano, but you can call me Mit-chan." She winked again, "Well, Mr. Sakamoto has told me that you're supposed to report to Ken Ichijoji on the basement floor which you need to take the elevator down that hall to your left," she pointed at one of the halls behind her, "but wouldn't you think it'd be a better idea to report for duty in my apartment tonight?" She pushed her elbows onto the desk in front of her, and smiled, a little gruesomely.

Yamato was repulsed, but kept that hidden, "I don't think so ma'm; I have night duty." It was a lie, but she would never find out.

"Alright, maybe tomorrow night then," she said wishfully, but accepted her failure at enticing him. He mentally noted never to unnecessarily return to this area while this woman was working. The new team secretly snickered behind him.

Yamato walked away from the desk to the hall the woman pointed. The hall was tiled white; it gave him an unpleasant reminder of when he was first dragged into the Lunar Corp training facility, he was only a bawling child then. His new second in command, Fuyuhiko Tomonaga, was very quiet in public, but among their own kind he would become the life of any party. The next person, another female named ­­­­Shiori Marubeni, was transferred to this unit from the intelligence agency, no one questioned why, but she always seemed quite sad about something. The last woman, Risa Uoya, was an experienced fighter; apparently, she had been through more missions than even Yamato, but had a problem with self-control during combat.

There was his new team, walking behind Yamato through the white tiled hall waiting to see what their new commander was like, when a man in a suit, followed by two other fancy suited men, decided to approach, "Hey, Gene-brat!" he yelled at Yamato, "Get us some coffee."

Yamato stopped his team, he really wished to kill the man where he stood, but that would cost him his own life, and he needed to live. "Yes sir, where is the coffee appliance sir?" His mind was screaming, "GET YOUR OWN COFFEE! damn citizen."

The man yelled at him, "What good are you Gene-brats if you don't know that!" Yamato flinched, trying to keep himself from hitting the man. The man backhanded Yamato screaming, "No good filth, I waste my tax money on you, and you can't even get coffee. Lets go." he led his group out of the corridor. Yamato just returned his head to its original position, looked back at the man leaving and imagined feeling the man's neck neatly snapped in his hands. Tomonaga nudged him to continue, and Yamato remembered his objective was the elevator down to basement level 4. They continued down to meet their new commander, hoping he was not like the man who approached him before.

They finally got to the elevator, and pressed the down button. Their finger prints were scanned, and noise came from inside the shaft. Soon enough, it arrived with a ding, the doors slid open and the team walked inside the small area. The doors slid closed, Yamato pressed B4, the music started and they all went down.

They got to the floor, and found a large lab with a dozen or so scientists running around frantically, with a purple haired one barking at another man in a suit. There was equipment lying around, some glass broken on the floor, a large amount of metal was stacked along the walls. The lights were a fluorescent blue. Yamato walked out of the elevator.

He was already somewhat upset about the previous incident, and decided that waiting would waste his time; therefore, he snapped his rifle to his shoulder, stood at attention and shouted, "LIEUTENANT MAJOR YAMATO ISHIDA REPORTING FOR DUTY."

All the scientists paused for a moment to stare at the soldiers that just entered the Lab. Even the suited man and the purple haired woman paused to look at them. Then the suited man walked up, "Good, you've arrived. I want you to remove that woman from this facility." Yamato just stared at him confused.

"Oh no you don't Ichijoji, I did not come here to be bullied by a jerk like you!" yelled the purple haired one.

Recognizing the name, he quickly took action. "Ma'm please come with me." She wrenched away, and started screaming incomprehensibly, though it probably made sense in her mind. He attempted to drag her away again, only to have her scream into his ear. The entire team was forced to subdue her. Yamato was the one that ended up clamping her mouth shut.

"Thank you," said Ken, in a very formal manner, he glared at the restrained scientist. Soon enough, three peace keepers managed to drag her out, and left Yamato to converse with his new commander. "It's good that you're here. We're short on guard staff and the others had been pulling triple shifts for 3 weeks, so I gave one team time off for today. I can't believe she took advantage of that."

"Anyway, your barracks is the floor above this." He said while heading toward the elevator, "You will share it with three other Peace Keeper teams that are already stationed here. At the end of the week, you will be given the shift schedule for the next week." They arrived at the small barrack with a ding. "As for right now you'll take your posts in the bottom floor."

Yamato stepped out of the elevator while Mr. Ichijoji continued to the ground floor. It appeared that the barracks had originally been a parking lot. He looked around, placed the team's personal belongings on unoccupied bunks and returned to duty.

The week ended quickly and thankfully, was uneventful. It was at the end where he met her. Lieutenant Ishida, who had become the unofficial message boy thanks to the coffee man from the first day, was waiting to go down on the elevator, then came a woman bustling in on the ground floor with a stack of papers and a cup of coffee.

Juggling was not Mimi Tachikawa's forte, and obviously, doing it with hot coffee and official documents was not a good idea. Nonetheless, she managed to make it to the elevator where a young blonde-soldier was waiting to get to the basement. Upon entrance, she unceremoniously tripped over the small ridge in the ground for the elevator doors with her heels, and the coffee spilled all over the soldier.

At first, Yamato was angry, and expected her to attack his ability to stand. Naturally, being the person Mimi was, she was about to blame him, but thought better of it. She had learned long ago that being true to herself was important which also meant she had to recognize when the fault was hers. Frowning, she murmured an apology and told him to go get changed into something dry, then picked up the papers and left for her office to reprint everything.

Yamato, although a bit burnt was somewhat grateful not to be chastised for the twentieth time of the day, decided to follow her order and returned to the converted barracks.

Ken Ichijoji was not having the greatest day of his life. Once again, the radical scientist Inoue decided it was best to defy his instructions and ordered an unapproved item beyond their current research budget. 'I did not graduate from Lunar Corp's top University for this' he thought to himself. Though a genius, he could not figure out why this woman refused to cooperate with him, often times he wondered if she simply had a problem with authority, or just didn't like him. He was well aware that though she was a little young to head up a research project, she had been bred and raised by the company like many other leading research scientists of the time. The reverie was cut short when that very machine exploded and partly flew right through his office window, nearly slicing off his nose.

Miyako jumped through the window, "Oh, it missed," she stated as if she was actually aiming for his head.

Ken stood up with a lowered head, hair covering his face, "Ms. Inoue, did I not state that the equipment you purchased with the research funds was to be returned?"

She grinned, "I will."

"Now how can you possibly return it now that it's broken?" He replied, slowly raising his head.

"It's under warranty?" slowly backing away with a smile. By the time he looked up, she was gone.

"MIYAKO INOUE" he shouted running in the direction that the lab assistants pointed out.

Three hours later he finally gave up searching, except for occasionally jumping around corners hoping to catch her off guard. Ken Ichijoji could not figure out why the top officials insisted in keeping Inoue as the head of research. He had heard about her father being the leading researcher in AI development, but it still did not explain why someone so young and so incredibly annoying was chosen to lead the group. She was smart, but not a genius, and there were far more qualified people that he could think of. In addition, the delays caused by her pranks and shenanigans cost billions of yen. Yet, there was little he could do against the board of directors when they wanted something a certain way.

Miyako had managed to lose Ken around the fire escape by hanging over the ledge while he merely glanced through the door. She had to admit these chases were fun, but quickly losing their appeal. Pulling herself back up she decided to take a break on the stairs. It left her thinking, thinking about the next step, the next program, future parts and the next machine to break. But thinking led to memories, and memories weren't always pleasant, nonetheless she found herself reminiscing of her own obscure and dark past.

As a child Miyako was cheerful, maybe a little bossy but got along well with others. Her father was a researcher for the Japanese Government, back then Lunar Corporation already had their hands in everything, but there was still some semblance of democracy. She remembered, he worked day and night for his country, just to "provide Japan with a means to regain power" or something like that. It any case, it didn't matter anymore, the man was dead and now she's the one continuing his work. After he was taken away under the premise of treason she was sent to an orphanage, and for some reason or another Lunar Corp decided to educate her in robotics, priming her to continue her father's work, as if that connection would be some sort of motivation. Maybe it was, because Miyako was still doing it, continuing the same research that her father led thirteen years ago. But she was closer than he was, they were almost there in creating the perfect servant of the people, a cyborg capable of doing all menial, and especially dangerous tasks that people currently needed to do. The lives she would save would make all this effort worth it, in dealing with her boss and the many sleepless nights lost to figuring out how to remove the problems. Needless to say, Miyako had a suspicion that the Peace Keepers would probably become obsolete, not like they looked like they enjoyed their lives anyway.

She glanced at her watch, _19:45_; no doubt the bureaucrat had left the office by now.

"Time for some coffee, maybe a few donuts and a slice of pizza," she murmured to herself. It was a horribly unhealthy and non-traditional meal but easy and seeing as how the pizza place and the donut shop had combined and was coincidentally located near the building, how could someone as practical and convenience-oriented as Miyako Inoue resist.

"Welcome" shouted the cashier as she walked in; it was a slow night.

"Hey Carl" odd name for a Japanese man, but he said he was named after his father, an American soldier stationed near Okinawa when the two countries were still in good relations.

She sat down at her usual place right in front of a fresh cup of coffee that Carl was kind enough to pour. "The usual" she said, letting the steam fog up her glasses as she drank the coffee. Carl pulled out three donuts, two with chocolate, one with powdered sugar and three slices of pizza, which were leftovers from the lunch hour rush. So her usual really meant "whatever was left over from today", which was technically cheaper than anything made on the moment. Carl didn't really care as she was a good customer, and it made him feel better to gain ½ price of material cost back for something that was going to be thrown out.

"Boss been chasing you again?" he asked with that odd accent that made her honestly believe he was a western foreigner. According to him, it gave customers an authentic feel of actual foreign style food from the store; of course he used the accent so much that it became the regular way he talked.

"Well, it wouldn't be right the other way around would it?" she asked jokingly. The pizza was already in her mouth and possibly in her stomach.

"Now, now Ms. Inoue, you know that giving a guy a hard time will definitely gain his attention, but its not the right way to treat someone." He looked at her knowingly.

Miyako stayed silent until she finished her meal, a guilty feeling doesn't make you guilty, or so she said to herself. In any case, she had wasted the day on that chase and had to make up the work after hours. Ichijoji never did wonder how they made projects on time; she assumed that he probably believed that his own management capabilities saved them from missing the deadline.

Ken was in his office filling out more accident reports, filing worker receipts, paychecks and any other office work that his secretary should do. Unfortunately for him the man's wife had decided to give birth that day, thus leaving a pile of work due to be finished by the next day. In a normal situation he would be done, but since he spent the day chasing Miss. Inoue around, now was the time to make up for all his trouble, no doubt the lovely Miss. Inoue had snuck out of the office by now and gone to bed.

However, off in the distance he could have sworn he heard some explosions and swearing. Hoping that it wasn't an invasion by unhappy rebels or the peace keepers suddenly deciding to revolt he walked to a secondary test area. Through the large windows that outlined the room was Miyako Inoue kicking and screaming at some machine which appeared to be broken. Ken was glad that for once a machine broke because she was using it to do her job. He noticed the Peace Keepers were hardly alarmed by the activity in the lab which suggested to him that it was normal for her to be working at this hour.

Half an hour later she was still there and typing away at some computer trying to figure out what went wrong. Ken decided to show up with two mugs of coffee and some cookies he happened to have around his desk. Naturally Miyako was shocked by his presence; she had expected everyone except the guards to be gone, "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Same as you, making up for lost time." He accusingly replied, and placed the cookies and the mug on a nearby flat surface. "So this is how you manage to keep with the deadlines." He smirked; glad that at least she wasn't as irresponsible as he thought.

"It's either me or a whole engineering team of elves that decide to do it for free because they enjoy building cybernetic parts despite the less than satisfactory work conditions." She grabbed the mug and began to swallow like an addict who had entered the desperate stages of withdrawal. Ken stared with interest, both cursing and thanking the fact that the coffee was already lukewarm by the time it reached her.

She noticed and smiled, "Too bad you didn't make it hot enough to burn, there goes your last chance of revenge."  
"Now that you are finally doing some work I think I can put aside my dispositions." He replied, ever in the professional boss-like manner.

Miyako laughed then looked at the broken part, "It doesn't look like I'm making much progress though." Ken nodded, not so much as to offend, but just enough to acknowledge that she was right. "My specialty lies more with software rather than electrical hardware; I just hope that something in the code went wrong. Maybe I could fix it." She moved back to the console she was working at.

Ken moved closer to the broken components, "Well, your expertise is better than mine, but I suggest you take the night off and come with a fresh head in the morning."

Miyako looked at him with surprise, for a moment she suspected that the Ken Ichijoji in front of her was instead some sort of doppelganger or a figment of her imagination, but it didn't matter; if she really was tired enough to see illusions of her boss, it was time for bed anyway. So, nodding her head in agreement, she took off to catch the next train home.

The next day wasn't nearly as eventful. Yamato noticed the calmer air between the supervisor and leading researcher. In fact the entire staff was on edge just waiting for Armageddon. For once, Mr. Ichijoji greeted Ms. Inoue without yelling at her and in turn she did not give a sarcastic reply. They were actually getting along rather well; Ms. Inoue was even referring to him by the first name. Ken, of course, was a little disapproving of such a familiarity, but somehow she convinced him that it was necessary to unify the staff. Also all bets they made about who would resign first had been dissolved, unfortunately one front desk secretary had bet that they would start dating. When it came out that they were referring to each other by first name, everyone assumed she had won the ten thousand yen pot, naturally a share of it secretly went to Miyako.

Ken wasn't happy when he heard about the pot, and even less happy when he heard who bet against him. In the end, he didn't stop using her first name; in fact, he managed to convince Miyako of giving him a share. He may have been a strict supervisor, but a little extortion and some fun were not beyond him.

One could say they were dating; after all they had spent just about every night together in the office. Ken was continually bombarded with new paper work, this time his secretary couldn't fill it out and Miyako was working hard on the project. Neither of them stayed past 23:00, but they did develop the ritual of having coffee around 19:30, either with Carl or at the office.

It was a time for them to resolve differences, despite their attitudes in the office; they still fought constantly over the budget policies, and general overall management. Often times after a fight they would avoid each other for the rest of the day until coffee. In the end, Ken usually won the budget battles while Miyako won general management policies. The businessman got his money and the scientist got control of her project.

On a particularly calm day where there was no monthly audit or shift in employment, Ken had discovered that he was in some trouble. Unfortunately, the president of the building - also a board member at Lunar Corp - had decided to invite the young manager to his birthday party, where he was expected to bring a date.

Everyone expected someone as young and handsome as Ken Ichijoji to have at least three girlfriends and perhaps a few flings within the office staff, though no other rumors had spread about his personal life. The problem was that Ken was a workaholic and given that he spent his nights on coffee dates with the lead researcher, he didn't exactly have much of a social life.

He considered asking a female secretary, but decided not to. Mimi Tachikawa happened to be the boss's secretary and he considered the girl as his own daughter. Any man caught showing interest developed very difficult lives within the company. Then there were the secretaries who worked the front desk. One could be described as a plump woman with a small obsession with white powder and the other was married.

The workers from his office were out of the question. The boss/employee relationships were important to keep, any sign of favoritism was sure to result in disaster. Naturally it would also be an insult to the rest of the Lunar Corp board members if he actually brought along a Peace Keeper as his date, that and it would be rather awkward, since he didn't really know their names. This left only one choice, Miyako Inoue.

Sure she was technically one of his employees, but he didn't have control over her job. He didn't have to worry about rumors of them going around since it had already begun anyway, neither did he feel that she would mistake his intentions, over the last few months she has proven to him that she was a rational person.

So that night for coffee he asked, "I was invited to Mr. Sakamoto's birthday party."

"Yeah, so?" she replied, her mouth half full with pizza.

"Well," Ken could not understand why he was so nervous; it was only a simple question, "I need a date."

Miyako laughed, "Let me guess, you spend all your time with me at coffee or in the office so you have no social life and thus no girlfriend." Ken nodded, it was sad but true. "Alright, I'll go with you, when?"

"Seven o' clock, two weeks after tomorrow," he felt relieved; she was more understanding than he thought.

"It's a date." She said very loudly and slapped him on the back, "Just pick me up at my place an hour before," laughing some more she left the building. Then it occurred to Ken, he had no idea where she lived.

The weeks passed by quickly, after that night they had settled back into their normal routine of fight, talk, drink coffee and pizza. Before they knew it, the day of the party came. They both left the office on time with everyone else to get ready. Wisely, Ken had gotten Miyako's address and phone number the day before so he would not be late or unexpected. When he showed up at her door, he was greeted by something breathtaking.

Ken was shocked of course; no one could have thought Miyako Inoue capable of looking so beautiful. In the office she was always wearing jeans, or when times demanded it, a pants suit. He knew it wasn't because she lacked femininity; it was more of a convenience and practicality issue, skirts and dresses were unsafe in the work place, and high heels made one prone to trip onto expensive equipment. However, for this formal birthday party that she so kindly agreed to attend, she wore a long blue sequined gown. To top it off, she tied back her hair and wore contacts so he could see her violet eyes.

She greeted him casually, "So, you're ready?"

Ken nodded for lack of anything better to say, held out his arm for her as a gentleman should, and led her towards the taxi.

The party had not started when they arrived. They were greeted by the host and hostess as they entered the room. Mrs. Sakamoto took the birthday present Ken prepared into some other room while Mr. Sakamoto started up a small conversation.

"It's good to see that you decided to come, Ken. As the manager of one of the company's most important projects, you are certainly rising through the ranks." He stated.

Ken smiled and nodded out of politeness, going up the company ladder was not something he cared that much about, "Thank you Mr. Sakamoto. It is a privilege to be invited here today." Though, it seemed such generic words were lost on the Board member as he turned his attention to Ken's date.

"Miyako Inoue? You look beautiful today." He commented without a second thought, "It's certainly different from what you normally look like in the office."

Miyako chuckled a bit; she was aware of how she appeared during work days, "Thank you."

"I'm so glad that you two get along now. I don't think the budget could handle any more of those shenanigans that you two pulled off," said Mr. Sakamoto with a hearty laugh.

He hooked his arm around Ken's neck and pulled him off to the side whispering, "Rumor has it that you two started dating, is it true?"

Ken felt some blood rush to his cheeks, but Mr. Sakamoto didn't seem to notice, "No sir," he said.

"A shame," said the old man, "If I wasn't married and forty years younger I would definitely go out with her. Just remember, we do not technically have a policy against inter-office relationships." He smiled and patted Ken on the back before going off to talk to other guests that arrived.

Ken just stood there a bit confused; did his boss honestly just try to set him up with Miyako? He looked around for her and saw her chatting with some other early guests. Sure she was rather pretty, well, it was beyond that. She was in fact beautiful, but at the same time she was controlling, arrogant, and stubborn. Things that were hardly attractive, but why did he enjoy being near her?

The thought had bugged him for some time now. He expected their first coffee together to be the last, but the next day he found himself once again stocked with work and yet again he decided to share coffee with her. Unable to finish in simply one night, he went back for a third, even fourth time, after a while it just became a habit to join her for a late night break or dinner; now he couldn't imagine not going. It was about a month ago, when he paused in the middle of work to see her hacking away at some computer where he caught himself staring. He never thought of it before, but as the days passed, he felt more and more comfortable around her and even missed her presence at times. After their usual fights, Ken felt guilty rather than angry or dissatisfied and the traditional avoidance for the rest of the day just made him feel empty.

She was controlling, but understanding; arrogant, but kind; stubborn, but forgiving. That was the Miyako Inoue that Ken had come to appreciate, and he quickly brushed aside the desire for anything more than friends. Despite the encouragement from Mr. Sakamoto, Ken doubted the Miyako would be interested in any type of relationship, especially when this project had yet to be finished.

Miyako found herself the center of attention as soon as Ken was drawn off by Mr. Sakamoto. Sure she knew she looked nice, but not that nice; it must have been the perfume, the advertisement did say 'Guaranteed to attract men' not that it was her goal of course. More or less, the cheap perfume seemed to be doing its duty, though she was sure she only brushed a bit around her neck, a little something that every woman did for formal events.

"You're new to these events aren't you?" said one older gentlemen to her left.

"Yeah," she flashed a smile, "I guess it's that obvious."

"Well, I think we'd remember someone as lovely as you." A young man commented, who she recognized as a popular actor, not that she watched much television anyway.

She giggled; she wasn't complimented by famous actors that often, "Thank you, I'm sure I'd remember you too." She wouldn't be able to forget him even if she wanted. His face was advertised everywhere within the city, and probably other parts of the country.

She noticed that Ken was now surrounded by women, and she felt somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that he was near them.

It couldn't be because she was jealous, but what else would it be?

Since Ken began joining her for night time coffee she had grown closer to him. They talked a lot, if not about work then it was their childhood or other memories, and when both were particularly depressed, the people they lost in their lives. Before she realized it, he had made himself a part of her life. She began to look forward to coffee every night. On weekends she missed his presence, especially during her weekly drama. How dare this man invade her life like that.

Now he was surrounded, most married, others untouchable, but all were tempting for any man, and she felt angry. Refusing to think further, she turned away from the curious men who only chatted about the dullness of wealth and found herself bored on the balcony, staring down at the city lights.

Ken saw her walk off, and as much as he wanted to join her, brushing off the rich and powerful women of the country didn't seem such a good idea.

The party slowly passed for the both of them. The men dispersed after Miyako mentioned working as a researcher under Mr. Sakamoto; apparently the intelligent working class wasn't up to par with their standards. So she spent most of her time staring down at the city on the balcony and Ken was stuck chatting with rich women who only expressed interest in themselves.

The ride back wasn't particularly interesting either; both were stuck thinking about the other, and both avoided the feelings that came with it. So they ended up chatting about nothing, some weather, some politics – the stuff you talk about when you have nothing to say or simply have other issues in mind. Before they knew it, the cab arrived in front of Miyako's apartment building.

Ken walked her to the entrance, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She responded.

"I'm sorry," Ken remembered how she spent most of the evening staring at the city lights, "I didn't really get to spend some time with you,"

"It's alright, you looked pretty busy with those women," an awkward silence followed.

They paused; Ken hesitantly placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled back, she suddenly put her hand on his and for a moment their eyes locked. Impulsively, she leaned in and kissed him. Ken found himself deepening that kiss, urging for more; the feelings that they were avoiding had decided to surface all at once, or maybe it was the delayed effects of the champagne.

"You want to come up?" Miyako barely whispered, their faces only a couple centimeters apart.

"Let me tell the driver," he looked over to where it was waiting; only to see it had gone, "Smart man," he thought and followed Miyako back to her apartment.

The rumor spread like wildfire around the office, "Ken spent the night at Miyako's place last Friday night." He was angry, before they weren't true but now, it just proved that someone knew too much about his personal life.

At first, he confronted Miyako hoping that she was just propagating something to win another bet. However, before he said anything, she told him who did it. In fact, she seemed angrier than he was. Apparently, the same front desk secretary who won the previous bet saw him leave on Saturday morning and wasted no time in spreading the information.

Mit-chan had really done it this time. Sure, she was a hopeless romantic, but telling the whole office what she saw that Saturday morning while she disposed of the trash was a little rash and it made Mimi worry about her.

Even so, Mimi was especially excited for the new couple. Rumors had been flowing around for years but she could tell that they weren't true. Mit-chan was never one to lie about first person accounts, despite her love of gossip. The boss was glad to hear of the rumor; even more when he found out it was true. Inviting Ken to his birthday was a good idea after all. Mr. Sakamoto, though filled with good intentions had his own reasons for encouraging the new couple; of course, it was not something apparent. It made her reflect at her own relationships.

Yamato, now that she thought about it; how in the world did she fall for him. It wasn't because of his looks, though he certainly was handsome; definitely wasn't because of his romantic gestures (or lack thereof). It probably was the fact that she could be honest with him.

Only with him could she act the way she felt, there was no fear of rejection or embarrassment, no expectation of greatness. Even with Mr. Sakamoto, a man who had become like a father to her, she felt that there was a mask on her. Sure, she was more than grateful to him, but it made her feel awkward and obligated to him sometimes.

They first met on that elevator some years back. Naturally, it was insignificant to her at the time, but soon after, she noticed him more and more around the office. Maybe it was the blonde hair, the same color as her brother's. Well, it'd be the same as her own if she didn't dye it pink; those of foreign descent weren't well received, especially ones who made no effort to blend into the rest of society.

One day on her usual late nights, he walked in on patrol. Mimi, already behind in paperwork and buried under unsent letters enlisted him as a stamp licker.

Yamato was less than pleased, but he couldn't find any excuses and the rest of the team left as soon as she pointed at him (apparently he was the only one she recognized). So for that night, he was reduced to the position of Lieutenant stamp licker.

If it weren't required for patrol, he would never have gone back to that office, however to his own regret he returned everyday for the next week to be stuck as a paper boy of some sort.

That Friday he just managed to get out of patrol, trading shifts with one of the day crews, but then she showed up at the barracks. The other peace keepers were starting to get annoyed. How dare a normal citizen invade their personal space? However, to their surprise, she brought a gift, a bundt cake she baked to thank him for helping.

A cake was nice, homemade, not quite fresh but not stale. Indeed, it was like a bonus party that no one had to celebrate. It was the first time any of them ate anything besides the nutrition bars they were supplied. Needless to say, a bar designed to fulfill all nutritional needs without consideration to flavor, had a strong metallic taste at best. Most of them had seen people eat it, but never put any thought into what it tasted like. Their food, of course, tasted all the same, and assumed that all others did so as well.

Yamato appreciated the gesture, though he didn't quite enjoy the new sensation in his mouth. Unfortunately, the rest of his team disagreed. They liked it, and concluded that they wanted more. Unwillingly, Yamato was blackmailed into assisting Mimi again. So he became the night time paper boy to the boss' secretary. Mimi was glad for the company if anything, also glad to hear that they liked her cooking. While everyone acknowledged that she was a good cook, she couldn't afford to start her own restaurant. Of course, Mr. Sakamoto was more than willing to fund such an endeavor, but she owed him so much for supplying a job and health care for her brother; how could she ask for more?

Sometimes he would bring her gifts from the other soldiers, little things, such as wood carvings, or other things that they found. Even the other teams came to respect her, often doing little extra things for her, prioritizing her orders above others, some of them even worked as her personal spies when she requested it. It was how she was aware of the growing relationship between Ken and Miyako.

They spent most weeknights together, sometimes they would talk, and sometimes he would say nothing. Often she would ask questions, hoping to familiarize herself with the "secretary's secret assistant", a name she occasionally called him. It was odd how she wanted to learn more about him; after all, he wasn't human, unworthy compared to the normal citizenry.

"I at least want to be friends, subhuman or not," she responded when he asked. He accepted it; apparently, some people were really quite nice. He had encountered some before, but never got close.

Over time, he learned quite a bit about her. She lost her parents at sixteen, began taking on multiple jobs to support the hospital bills of her sickly brother and finally met Mr. Sakamoto at nineteen. He found her as an excellent hard working secretary who was honest and pure. Childless, the old man found his chance at being the doting father with a perfect daughter, and Mimi was thankful, but unfulfilled.

It was hard to face someone who gave her everything she needed without wishing anything in return. She wanted to be the perfect daughter for Gendou Sakamoto, but she was still human. Around him, she constantly felt an invisible mask, hiding who she really was from the world.

She began confiding in Yamato, sometimes complaining about her life, mostly dealing with certain issues of sincerity and friendship. Yamato wasn't always silently listening; they equally talked over their problems getting separate inputs without affecting their social lives.

At one point in time, though neither knew when, it became more than just a nightly meeting of paper filing and discussion. At first, they became awkward around each other. When they tried to confront it, it ended up in long silences or small talk.

It wasn't until Mimi finally insisted on solving the problem that they started, purposely brushing across each other during the work day, embracing at night. Sometimes they just lay together in the other's arms for hours without speaking. There was no need, it was security, attention, love, the presence of one another, everything they wished for.

It was difficult for her to keep it secret, but they were aware of the implications of such relationships. Sure, there were stories, even movies made about the taboo topic, but it was still discouraged. At first, she wanted to come out, but it was Yamato that deterred her.

While the movies always ended with the consistent theme "Love conquers all", reality had quite a different policy. Any intimate relationships between a Peace Keeper and a citizen ended up with a mysterious transfer of the soldier and possible disappearance of the citizen. Yamato had seen them carted off to uncharted bases to be executed or marked as test subjects. Mimi accepted his reasons, she wasn't dumb and he had no reason to lie about such things.

There were exceptions to the rules, where bored citizens, usually the upper class, would be simply looking for sex. The soldiers were perfect as they didn't leak secrets and could be eliminated quickly and easily, obeying every order.

Yamato himself had been some bored lady's plaything on more than one occasion when he was assigned to guard certain posh individuals and their properties. One, he shuddered to recall, had very sadistic preferences. Thankfully, the transfer brought him to this building.

Around the time of Mr. Sakamoto's birthday, he couldn't help feel that something was off with Mimi. While she seemed happier, she acted secretive. The girl was far too sincere, her act was as clear as day to an old and experienced man.

He had a suspicion that Mimi was now seeing someone. He was disappointed that she did not go and consult him about this individual, but then again she was a grown woman. At the same time, he feared that the man was merely another con artist or some loser out to get him. Gendou wanted to find out. At night he left a bit later, suspecting the men who worked in the office, but he found that all the men save from Ichijoji left. While he did suspect Ichijoji for a bit, the man never made any apparent moves on Mimi before and seemed way too honest to be the type to sneak around his back. At the same time, he noticed that Inoue was also putting in extra time as they spent every evening together. After about a week, he concluded that it wasn't a man from the office.

The night of the party he decided to question her, "Who is it?"

She looked at him a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"I know you're seeing someone, you aren't very good at hiding things," he pursued.

Mimi felt a bit nervous, indeed she was too sincere to her feelings, "I have no idea what you're talking about," this time she avoided it hoping that he would drop it.

"Now Mimi, I've known you for a long time now, and consider you like my own daughter. Let me know who it is, if not for me, then for your brother. The man you date could be his future brother-in-law and I can make sure you are all well off," her brother was her weak point, and Gendou was very good at exploiting that.

Mimi couldn't keep it back, she owed him the truth at least, "His name is Yamato Ishida."

"Is that so? Where does he work, I'll make sure he gets a raise and a promotion." Gendou purposely didn't mention his usual background check procedure.

Mimi hesitated for a bit, "I don't think you can do that," she paused, "he's a Peace Keeper."

Gendou stood back completely shocked and angry. He was going to make sure that the creature would suffer before dying, enticing his little girl like that.

"I'm going to kill him," he half shouted in the crowded room.

Mimi knew the look on Gendou's face; he was indeed serious. "Please don't," she begged.

"It's for your own good," he insisted, the heat from alcohol was rising to his face.

She paused in a moment, took in a deep breath to calm herself, "I'm pregnant."

Sakamoto nearly fell to the ground, and if it weren't for the wall next to him, he would have. "You…you can't be serious?" he didn't want to believe it; surely she was smarter than that.

She nodded her head, tears welled up in her eyes, "Please, he doesn't even know yet," she begged him, "please don't hurt the father of my baby."

Gendou was trapped, if anyone else knew Mimi was carrying such a child, she would be erased along with her lover. It was how they made sure that these cases never reached the press. The rumors alone were good enough to grow distrust among the public. How could he solve the problem now? Even if the child was only half human, it was still his grandchild, at least the closest he'd ever get to one.

The anger left him; all that was left was a concern for his daughter and her child. He knew that the father could do little to protect the two from the political forces that ran the country.

"Alright," he reluctantly accepted, "but make sure no one knows of this. Such information could mean your lives."

Yamato found out the Monday after. Sure, he felt angry at first, this put them in some danger; people were bound to wonder who the father was. However, Mr. Sakamoto agreed to help, no one would question his testimony. Still, Yamato didn't like the final solution that was offered. The idea was that Mimi would start dating someone Mr. Sakamoto chose, and Yamato was set to transfer within the week.

Mimi trusted that he was being transferred to a safe place, a simple job on another prefecture, Yamato knew better, he was the only one transferring after all – he was going to permanently disappear.

Mr. Sakamoto even saw him two days before departure.

Yamato frowned at his presence, "I am preparing for my transfer sir," he said, sarcasm laced his voice, he had nothing to fear now, nothing to lose.

"Now I know you're angry, but this is for her good." Sakamoto insisted, trying to ignore the soldier's rudeness.

"That's bull sir!" Yamato saluted and left.

Sakamoto knew this was for the best. Even with a half child, no one would be able to tell if the man he chose was of French descent with blonde hair.

That night was their last together. Yamato had said nothing about his predicament; he didn't want her to worry. The baby was nearly three months along now. They held each other in silence; she eventually fell asleep on the couch.

Outside a shadow was watching them through binoculars. The sleeping couple reminded her of her own family.

After the death of Daisuke, she had confessed to Takeru, or at least that was what he told her what happened. All she could remember was waking up next to him half naked – he of course insisted that nothing happened. While she was speculative, they were late, so both got dressed and ran to see Taichi waiting for them with the last van.

Hikari could still remember the look on her brother's face when he noticed their disheveled clothes. Takeru later revealed that Taichi nearly tried to kill him later that day. Still, it was official, they had begun a relationship, and no one else questioned it. Most agreed that it was what Daisuke would have wanted.

They got married the year after, a double wedding, Tai and Sora, Hikari and Takeru. Some felt it was rushed, but after Takeru told her Daisuke's last words, she was sure that it was what he wanted. She appreciated it.

The woman they extracted had been a research scientist working on a project code named "Xenofoam" Cyborgs that would serve the people. While the original intention of the project was a servant drone, there were other uses that the military had foreseen. Nakane's husband had objected to the military use of the artificial life forms, and paid the price for voicing his opinions with his life. Naturally, it resulted in her defection. Now, ten years later, after planning, spying and kidnapping at least forty others, they were finally ready to finish the journey that Daisuke died for so long ago.

It was a coordinated effort; this and four other places were targeted so this project could not continue. Sure this would not stop the research into robotics, but it would set them back a few years, perhaps enough that the rebels could regain control of the country. Even if they didn't, at least this way it would severely hamper public confidence in the organization, after all, this was not going to be just any small explosion in the middle of the city.

They entered the building through the sewers. Koushiro immediately hacked into a local remote camera. Since it was unimportant, the security system was connected, but far outdated, the Achilles heel. He got into the system easily, deactivating alarms and most of the lock controls. Those who worked in the security room would not suspect anything until the shooting started.

Sora took her team and entered the research floor. They began setting up charges on support beams, when they go off, it would collapse the building. Fortunately, the guards had gone off on nightly rounds in different parts of the building.

Miyako and Ken had gone to the barracks to provide some sort of goodbye party for Yamato. While they weren't close, Ken felt some obligation to giving the Lieutenant some sort of gift for being a loyal worker and good subordinate. To tell the truth, he could only feel sorry for the man; when Sakamoto himself came to Ken's office to deliver the transfer request, he quickly guessed that Yamato had done something unacceptable, but unmentionable – no doubt it was the taboo subject of a love affair, it wasn't hard to guess who the other party was.

They were there, but he wasn't. The other soldiers didn't seem to mind their presence; thanks to Mimi, they had grown accustomed to this small invasion of their personal space. Not like they had anything to hide anyway.

Tai made it to the top floor; the team was exhausted from walking up 13 flights of stairs and taking the elevator for the rest. They didn't expect anyone to notice a person on the 10th floor to start using the thing anyway; no one was there to see the intruders. The security office had already been successfully hacked, and the guards seemed to be slacking that night.

Takeru was wary at the entrance; the peace keeper they had observed during the preliminary scouting of the area was probably still there. Unfortunately for the team, Yamato knew they were waiting outside the door. He had noticed the footsteps thumping along the floor as they walked off the elevator, there was one set extra from his usual group. He instructed Mimi to hide behind Sakamoto's desk before they could get to the entrance.

Yamato raised his weapon in wait; the door would come down at any moment. It flew open and he fired, hoping his opponents weren't professionals. To his disappointment, whoever busted the door open was good enough to stay away from the entrance when it opened. The next thing that came in was a canister. Tear gas, "Trap" was the first thing that came into his mind, but he knew that Mimi wouldn't be able to stand it for long.

On the other side of the door, the assault team was waiting for the supposed couple to come out, unless of course there were gas masks hidden in the room. A male voice shouted from the inside, "Please don't shoot, we surrender". How could Yamato risk the life of his lover and child in suicidal shoot out; naturally the only choice was hope that the intruders had a generous conscience. Coughing, he grabbed Mimi's arm and felt his way out.

The second their heads appeared, Takeru grabbed Yamato and threw him on the ground, preventing any unexpected retaliation from the other Peace Keeper. Tai grabbed the girl and did the same.

"Lieutenant Ishida?" Takeru recognized his former commander; the same messy blonde haircut that all the training officers mocked them for covered the man's face.

"Yes, who are you?" Yamato replied in turn, his eyes still affected by the gas.

"Takeru Takaishi, you were my commander when I was captured by rebel forces." Takeru replied, earning a glare from Tai who had long expressed the desire to be referred to as 'patriots' rather than its negative counterpart.

Takeru Takaishi, Yamato remembered the name. He was part of that team he lost on a scouting mission long ago. The effects of the gas began to wear off just enough to see a decent blur.

Tai noted that the reunion would not be short enough, and motioned another man to go in and retrieve the disk they needed. Putting on a gas mask, the man stormed into the room, making sure no one was still in there and searched for the item.

Mimi, still lying on the ground remained silent, trying to comprehend the situation. Yamato on the other hand, was now considering joining the rebel forces. Surely they would accept him if they accepted Takeru, this at least got him out of the impending death sentence Mr. Sakamoto had arranged.

When the man returned, Tai motioned to leave, though still noting the soldier lying on his back. "Wait!" shouted Yamato, "Let me join you."

The team looked at him suspiciously, but they did remember Hikari's initial report of a possible relationship between the peace keeper and the woman next to him. Tai turned to Takeru, "You think we can trust him?" he nodded.

Mimi was shocked, "But what about your transfer?" She couldn't let him leave like that, he was going to be transferred and someday they'd end up together again, she knew it.

"Mimi, this is my chance to live," he leaned into her face, "come with me."

Now it dawned on her, though Mr. Sakamoto promised her nothing would happen Yamato knew it was a death sentence, and she had been blinded by her devotion.

"I can't," she cried, "my brother." The only other person in the world she lived for, giving up education and opportunities to care for the sickly boy.

"We can get him later." Yamato begged with his eyes.

Mimi only shook her head; he wouldn't be safe if Mr. Sakamoto found out.

"Then I'll come for you both." Yamato promised right after Takeru grabbed his shoulder, urging him to hurry. Mimi cried a bit afterwards, and quickly left the building as soon as she could.

Below, the off duty teams had engaged in a fire fight with Hikari's team. The explosions and shots fired upstairs had given away the attack, and before Hikari could return to the sewers a peace keeper managed to drop one of her teammates. The patrols had also cornered them upstairs, and precious time was ticking by. Fortunately, they had manage to fight their way into the current floor they were on, the barracks, where Ken and Miyako were hiding behind anything they could find.

One dead and another wounded, Hikari was doing her best to hold their ground; thankfully they had already destroyed their target. Hopefully the others accomplished their goals as well while she distracted the guards.

"Cease fire!" shouted a voice from upstairs. Hikari could only thank God for the wonderful interference as the peace keepers stopped shooting at them from that side.

Yamato ran down the stairs, Takeru and Tai waited a little, not wanting to surprise their opponents into firing at them. The commander had requested a chance to convince his comrades of joining as well. Tai was still a little skeptical, but accepted it for Takeru's sake.

"What did you say?" Uoya nearly screamed after hearing the proposal. For a moment she considered killing the traitor, until Marubeni stepped in.

"I'll go." said Marubeni, as if she had been waiting for the opportunity all along. Yamato knew she'd agree first, her mysterious transfer was not the result of incredible loyalty. Tomonaga followed stating that he was tired of being treated like a dog. Reluctantly, due to peer pressure, Uoya had given in as well.

That done, Yamato motioned Tai's team in, allowing them to support Hikari's now solo fight. In the mean time, Yamato was still yelling proposals to the others in the barracks, much to Ken and Miyako's disappointment.

At first, a couple of lieutenants refused to give in, only to be shot in the back by their unsatisfied subordinates. In turn, they were also killed by loyal soldiers of Lunar Corp. At the end, there were only three left standing and all decided it was in their best interest to join.

They surrounded the scientist and executive, "Please surrender," said Hikari who was the best at negotiation.

What choice did the couple have, they were surrounded and unarmed. So they raised their hands and began moving towards the stairs.

Over the radio, "The charges are set, we're set to go," confirmed Sora.

Miyako heard, hoping it wasn't true. They couldn't destroy what she worked so hard to achieve. There were backups, but she was sure they knew that if they knew about this office. She grabbed a pencil from the front pocket of her lab coat and stabbed the nearest person hoping to use the confusion to escape.

Takeru pulled his trigger and two bodies dropped to the ground, Miyako and Hikari. Immediately he was at her side, holding on her hand, trying to stop the bleeding. "Hold on," he cried, "You can't go yet." It was far too late, Miyako had gotten her through the heart; Hikari had died before she hit the ground.

Ken was next to Miyako who was still alive, but bleeding profusely. "What have you done?" he shouted, crying into her shoulder.

She could only reply, "I couldn't let them destroy my life," before closing her eyes for the last time. In anger Ken seized a rifle from one of his captors and randomly fired at anyone in his way before anyone could respond; three more people had dropped to the ground. He ran off up the stairs before they fully recovered from the confusion.

Now wasn't the time to mourn, so just as they lost Daisuke, they lost Hikari and were forced to leave her body behind. Sora urged them over the radio, "We have to go; I've set it to 90 seconds." It was just enough time to clear the tunnels.

Yamato pulled both Tai and Takeru to their feet, "She's dead" he stated as he motioned for the others who were carrying the wounded to leave quickly. Takeru looked at the body for the last time, recalling how beautiful she was when they first met before turning away and running towards the sewers.

The ride home was unpleasant. Though there was no loss of space due to the loss of bodies, no one could comfort the distraught brother and depressed husband. When Takeru stopped crying a couple of hours into the trip they had all assumed he simply fell asleep from exhaustion.

It wasn't until he refused to get off the van once they got back to base, that they realized something was wrong. Yamato did his best to shake him awake, but when he touched him, the body was cold. Only then they saw the large blood stain on Takeru's back.

Author's Note – Don't worry it's not totally done yet. We still get an epilogue and a "The Making of PKTT" notes. Which you'll get by ohh, next week since I'm already done (you didn't think I'd let you wait a year without actually finishing did you?).

R&R


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

Everyone stood next to a tall Sakura tree in a park that they had all visited many times before. "It's been another year hasn't it Hikari." Taichi spoke to it, the same thing he did every year for fifteen years since their deaths. "I hope you, Takeru and Daisuke are doing well up there. We're just fine here." He continued, updating them on their lives. "Guess what, the Constitution has been reinstated. Our dream has come true." Tai stated proudly.

After the incident, Lunar Corp could not stop the rumors of rebelling peace keepers as Yamato and his team continually went out to bases to convince his kind to break free from their servitude. The people had begun to lose confidence in the security of their government. The poor were becoming restless and riots broke out once more. Lunar Corp's military power had reduced drastically due to the reduction of the peace keeper production, a measure they had taken to appease the people, but failed. With their reduced man power and loss of the cyborg research they slowly lost power over the public.

At first the regime tried to use fear tactics to destroy opposition, but as the rebels increased in power, they could only rely on the power of politics. More and more of the rich and powerful left the country for safety as the normal underprivileged workers began taking over. Finally, public opinion demanded a democratic constitution and the politicians who wanted to stay were forced to sign it.

The Sakamoto group disbanded when the CEO left for France as it became apparent that Lunar Corp would not survive the transition. Mimi had already left years before when Yamato fulfilled his promise of retrieving her. Their first child was named Takeru, after the man Yamato accredited to freeing the peace keepers from servitude.

"Ken's gone now. I know I didn't tell you, but after we killed that woman he began hunting us like no other." Everyone stared down, ashamed. "Ironic thing is that cancer got him in the end. Apparently he ignored all the signs until it was too late."

While the rebels were still underground, Ken used all his resources to track them, successfully alienating his former friends and colleagues. Most said he lost his sanity the day Miyako died; no one knew how much he loved her. He proved to be a useful asset when it came to tracking the rogue underground groups. Ruthless as they came, he tortured and killed anyone associated to that day, even getting to members of the rebel leadership.

Even after the rebels had been recognized as an actual power, and the fighting stopped, Ken still hunted the people that he held responsible for Miyako's death. Late nights, and long days went into his plan of ultimate vengeance, but the stress eventually destroyed his weary body. Before anything could be carried out the man died alone from liver failure.

"Even with all he's done, I hope he's up there with Miyako and you guys." Mimi continued, "He was truly a good man." This ended their update, and each person approached the tree and touched it in acknowledgement.

"Hikari say good bye." Sora told her daughter who began to wander off in the direction of the train station.

The seven year old girl ran back hugged and kissed the bark, "Bye bye Aunty Kari and Uncle Tk," she said before running off ahead towards her elder brother Daisuke as they journeyed back to their lives.

R&R

Email me if you wanted more, or have nothing to do. Check my bio for other stories.

That's that, thanks for being patient with me.

Dragontiger96


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